What Now?
by Skinfull
Summary: This opening up has a mistimed bedroom encounter between Luke and Lorelai and the rest of the story if their attempt at a recovery. I have an idea of where it will go, who knows if it will get there. I've put in a rating T, but may change it to M if the smut takes hold. \ (ツ) /
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** : A short prologue if you will. For this fic I have a vague idea of where I want it to go, how I want it to end and what should happen in between, but who knows where it will all end up. I shall however, enjoy the show!

* * *

Luke rolled over onto his back, and pulled the blanket out from under his ass with a frustrated grunt. He stared up at the ceiling and started to count down in his head from a hundred, to wait and see if this nightmare would end and he would wake up in bed, alone.

87...86..85...what the hell was he thinking? He was in no way capable of satisfying her with his head spinning full of pure rage, in the way it had been this evening when she walked in.

79...78...77...of all the nights she chose to wander in to the diner and try to cheer him up, she would have to pick the night she was wearing that denim skirt and tank top. Jesus did she ever dress weather appropriate?

62...61...60...idiot! Stupid, horny, angry, idiot! Did she feel anything? Was she even close? He closed his eyes and her bored face, as he thrust into her, popped into his head making his anger bubble up all over again.

Not able to take it anymore, the silence, the distance, the breathing that wasn't ragged like it should be after sex, he kicked the blankets off and stalked over to the bathroom without looking back. He closed the door behind him with a resolute thud and peeled the condom off with a sharp tug. Tossing it into the toilet he flushed then turned to look at his dejection in the mirror.

Both of his hands gripped the sink so tight his knuckles were as white as the porcelain but his eyes, transfixed on their own reflection were still burning with fury and shame.

He wondered how long he would have to wait in here before she left, and thought briefly of testing this theory out, but before he could even think of getting comfy on the edge of the tub, he heard his apartment door slam shut. Luke froze. He listened to the silence for a moment, then grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his naked waist, before reaching for the door.

He couldn't remember a time when he so carefully opened his own bathroom door. He turned the handle as if it was attached to a bomb detonator, then with utmost care, he pulled it open. The room was still dark but there was enough light to see the empty bed. Still not sure she was actually gone he stepped further into the room.

"Lorelai?" he whispered, half afraid she might answer. He walked further into the room, each step assuring him she was no longer here. "Lorelai?" He looked around the apartment and sighed a little with relief.

She was gone.

His relief quickly turned to dread, and his dread turned to shame, all in a flash of hot emotions that washed over him like a technicolour wave. He went over to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water which he gulped down without taking a breath, one hand gripping the edge of the counter.

With the glass drained he put it into the sink to refill and looked out the window only to spot Lorelai half walking, half running across the town square.

Her hair hung loose and wild behind her...like it had been fanned out on his pillow earlier.

Her ass swayed side to side as tried to jog without looking like she was jogging...like it had when she shimmied away from him towards his bed, his hands on her hips, tugging her closer to him.

Luke looked away, no longer willing, or able, to watch her retreat. Retreat? Frantic escape more like. He couldn't remember the last time someone had run away from his bed like that. Sure some women had left while he was sleeping, or left before he even got to sleep, but they all left with a kiss and a promise to take his call. Some even called him! he added in a lame and failed attempt to sooth his ego. He dropped the half full glass back into the sink and ignored the sound of it breaking. Instead he turned off the tap and walked back to his bed intending to drop onto the mattress, face down, but before gravity took hold he paused and started at the rumpled sheets.

With a growl he pulled them off the bed then rolled them up into a ball before he tossed them into the laundry basket. Even that made her smell fill his nostrils and he snorted to rid himself of the memory of his nose buried in the crook of her shoulder, her perfume, her shampoo...her.

Luke felt his cock twitch and it lifted his anger to a whole new level.

"Fuck."

* * *

The sound of the bathroom door clicking closed was enough to spur her into action. Lorelai leapt off the bed and snatched her skirt off the floor. She pulled it on, not bothering to fasten it fully as she rummaged for her top, tossing his jeans and shirt over her shoulder as she searched. She found her bra but no panties, was she even wearing panties she wondered but then from the corner of her eye, she saw the hot pink camisole dangling off the back of the kitchen chair where he had left it, and so she forgot all about looking for her panties and grabbed that instead.

What the hell was she thinking?! She scolded herself as she fastened her bra at her front then twisted it around and slipped her arms into the straps. She tugged on her top before the bra straps were even settled, one of the underwires cutting painfully across her breast, and crawled around on the floor for her shoes. Without bothering to to pull on her strappy sandals she risked a glance over at the bathroom, then hurried across the apartment and out the door. She was halfway down the stairs when it swung shut, with a window rattling slam, behind her.

"Dammit," she cursed, knowing he would definitely have heard that, but she didn't let it slow her escape.

She practically ran through the diner, and the ding of the bell over the door shot right through her. It was barely an hour ago when she came in through that same door, heard that same ding, and found him leaning over the counter, his arms crossed and his head buried beneath them. To be fair, the first thing she noticed was his ass, clad in soft well worn denim, but before she could offer him a comically loud wolf whistle, she noticed his clenched fists pressing into his ears.

Lorelai didn't bother looking both ways as she hurried across the road, but then this was a Tuesday evening in Stars Hollow, hardly times square. She was dying to look over her shoulder to see if his apartment lights had been turned off, to see if he was looking out his window at her retreat. Escape? She pondered as she raced past the gazebo. Was she running away? Away from Luke? Away from his apartment? Away from that look in his eye when he leaned over her.

What even was that look? Was he still angry? I mean, she argued with herself as she jumped off the curb on the opposite side of the square, my legs were wrapped around him, my heel pressed into his ass to be sure he didn't pull away as he slid into me… Lorelai felt a shiver of desire curl down her spine, but it was quickly washed away as she remembered the look on his face as he pushed into her.

When she had opened her eyes to look at him, that expression killed any sensation that had been building in her body, or to be specific she scoffed, between her legs. He looked like she had just kicked his dog. If he had a dog. Or even liked dogs. It wasn't long after that _look_ had been shared that he pulled away and fell onto the bed beside her.

The worst thing was, she realised as she carefully stepped her way through the Henderson's back garden, avoiding the multitude of children's toys that were scattered across the lawn, was that moment after he lay on the bed, when their breathing was not ragged but still, their eyes were glued to the ceiling and not one part of their very naked bodies was touching, despite the small bed.

That wasn't how it was supposed to be. That wasn't how she imagined it would be. And she had imagined it, many times, in many different ways. Maybe their timing was off. After all this time, after all the flirtation, the glances, the near misses, the gentle knuckle brushes against her knees, her fingers on his arm. After all that, maybe this was not the right time, the right place, the right mood.

He was mad. At her? At her flirting? He didn't seem to mad at that, he seemed to enjoy it. She had only tried it to cheer him up. His fury was palpable when he first looked up and it almost made her step back, but instead she stepped closer and placed a hand on his back. Anyway, he was in that state before she even arrived, she rationalised, it couldn't have anything to do with her. At least, she decided, not this time.

Lorelai picked her way through the thick hedge at the back of the Henderson's and emerged at the bottom of Babette's garden. This time she did look both ways as she raced across it to the relative safety of her porch. Without having to dig for keys she pushed the door open, practically jumped over the threshold and slammed the door behind her, rested against it, and slid to the floor.

"Fuck."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** : You know what? yeah screw it. After this chapter, I'm gonna update the rating to M and get smutty. :)

Sorry for anyone who isn't interested in that kind of thing. But it was difficult enough to stop it in this chapter. So fair warning.

* * *

Luke slammed the metal mixing bowl down onto the counter and gripped the edge with both hands, in an effort to hold his rage at bay. Another batch of pancake mix ruined.

After a sleepless night, spent on the couch, because he couldn't bring himself to lie back in that bed, he was up and in the diner by 4am. He set it up for the morning rush, and prepped his stockroom for the incoming deliveries. He started to work on preparing the food but struggled to keep focus and ended up churning single cream into butter, adding salt rather than sugar to his pancake mix and then salt instead of cinnamon to the oatmeal. He had also burned a tray of bacon and dropped another onto the floor.

Now as he looked down at the pancake mix he knew he was going to have to throw out, he wanted to pick it up and fling it at the wall. He looked over at the tiled wall beside him and felt the anger seep out of every pore. He dropped his chin to his chest and puffed a breath out past his lips.

"Fuck. This." Luke tossed the mix out and dumped the bowl into the dishwasher. The dusted his hands off and pulled the apron from around his waist. He reached under the counter for his "gone fishing" sign and just made it to the door as Cesar pushed it open.

"Whoa there boss," he said as he stepped back down the steps from the diner until he spotted the sign in Luke's hand. "You're going?"

"Sorry Cesar, last minute plans."

"Want me to keep the place open?" Cesar asked hopefully, knowing that if Luke left, he'd be gone for at least three days, and that meant three days less work for him, three days less wages, but all the same amount of bills needing to be paid. Luke looked over his shoulder as if assessing the diner under Cesar's tutelage, and Cesar recognised his moment. He stepped in and grabbed the sign off Luke. "Go, take your vacation, you deserve it." He went straight to the kitchen and dropped the sign behind a stack of pots. "I'll take it from here!" he called out as he tied on his apron.

"Alright, alright." Luke threw his hands up in defeat and went up to his apartment. He packed a bag with only the necessities, but as he looked around at the mess of the place he realised he couldn't leave it like this. He knew the thought of it greeting him on his return, would bother him the whole time he was away. He dropped the bag by the door and started to clean up the mess. He made short work of the kitchen, cleaning up the remnants of his lunch from yesterday then after only a moment's hesitation went over to his bed.

Without giving himself time to think he grabbed linen from the closet and quickly made the bed. He snatched up his discarded clothes from yesterday and tossed them into the laundry basket. He gave the room a once over and was about to leave when a flash bright blue caught his eye. Luke walked over to the side of the bed and knelt down on one knee between the bed and the bedside table, only to pull out a small bright blue clutch bag. He stared at it in confusion for a moment, wondering what it was and how it got there and with a defeated slump of his shoulders it all came flooding back to him in a hot wave of embarrassment.

"Shit."

A multitude of solutions flashed through his mind including just throwing it back under his bed and ignoring it. But from the weight of the bag he could tell her keys were in there, house and car, and her wallet. He briefly wondered why she never came back for them last night, and how she got into her house without them. But with a pulse of annoyance he realised she had probably just left the door unlocked anyway.

He decided he'd leave it down in the diner and she could come in and pick it up, if she came in. Which he was pretty sure she wouldn't, so he decided he'd ask Cesar to ring her after lunch and let her know it was here. With a groan, he put one hand on his thigh and stood up, but again, before he could leave, a flash of hot pink caught his eye.

"What the hell…"

From his vantage point Luke could see a scrap of pink material caught between the bedpost and the wall. Knowing full well he had nothing in his wardrobe that was that colour and even as his shaking hand reached out to grab it he knew what would be revealed.

And yes, as expected, he thought with a sigh. He looked down at his clenched fist where her panties were scrunched up. Slowly he unfurled his fist, as if he needed to see more to confirm what he was holding. The offending article in his hand was a small silky scrap of material with a white lace around the top and he vividly remembered pulling them off her and throwing them over his shoulder. It should have been a moment that made her smile, made him growl, but it wasn't. Instead all he remembered was her gasp as she fell back onto the bed and his anger not even subsiding a little bit.

Luke looked around the room as if a solution would present itself. His laundry basket? No, he had to be rid of these. The Bin? No he couldn't throw out her panties. Her bag? Yeah, he opened her bag and shoved them in then quickly made his way to the door to grab his own bag.

He was down the stairs and about to go through the arch into the diner when he realised he couldn't leave the bag there, what if it fell, what if the panties came out, what if Rory picked it up for her? No, he couldn't risk that. Instead he would just drop it over to her house on his way out of town. Afterall she would be at work, he could leave it on her porch, or her hallway table, knowing the door would be open anyway. Without trying to over think his actions too much, Luke shoved her bag into his then went out to chat with Cesar before he left.

* * *

Lorelai stepped out of her shower and wrapped her body in a thick, warm, soft, towel. She fastened it at her front and wandered over to the mirror to brush her teeth and apply cream to her face. Her hair was clipped up with loose tendrils falling around her neck and each delicate brush of her hair on her shoulders made her remember the sensation of his lips on her skin. She spat out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth out before standing up straight again and looked at herself in the mirror.

Her skin, still shining from her moisturising, was a pale alabaster with only a hint of rosy cheeks peeking through. Her eyes, small blue circles framed with a frown. She leaned forward to get a closer look and her frown deepened. She never was a morning person. And especially not a morning person with literally no sleep, but that wasn't tiredness changing the colour in her eyes. It was worry. Worry and doubt. Her confidence had taken a knock last night she admitted as she stepped back from the mirror and rummaged in her drawer for her makeup.

It was hard not to take it personally when you're lying naked in bed next to a guy and he's not touching you. Lorelai scoffed. Or when you're lying naked _beneath_ a guy and he just looks royally pissed off.

She took her makeup tray out and applied a light passing of blusher across her cheeks to let that rosy tint pop, then grabbed her eye shadow and carefully applied it. She reached for the eyeliner and mascara and tried to apply this too without getting to distracted. But every time she caught her own eye in the mirror her hand would freeze.

Why was he so mad in the first place?

Why did he respond to her usual flirting like that? She had meant it in a way to make him smile, not make him grab her.

Why did he grab her hips? Lorelai chuckled and dropped her hand that held the mascara brush. Well, she knew why he grabbed her hips. It was to pull her off the stool, and against his rock hard body. She felt a shiver of desire ripple through her again, but it was followed by a ripple of annoyance.

"Focus Gilmore." She applied her mascara and dropped it into the drawer then stood back to look at her appearance. No one would be able to tell she had lain awake all night. She grabbed the first lipstick she could reach and leaned forward with pursed lips poised to smear it across her lips.

Then she heard his truck. She knew it was his truck. First, who else would be up a this ungodly hour. She looked at her watch and saw it was just after six thirty. Second, the gentle but masculine purr of his engine was unmistakable. Masculine purr of his engine? Lorelai rolled her eyes at the "Dirty." that popped into her mind and turned to hurry out of the bathroom in time to hear the heavy truck door creaking as he pushed it open.

What the hell was he doing here?

Babbette would soon be up, to let out the herd of cats that lived with her and Morey, so there was no way they were going to battle it out on her porch. Rory was still asleep, so there was no way they were going to have it out in her living room or kitchen. She glanced over at her bed, the duvet rumpled and covered with strewn clothing. And there was certainly no way they were going to have it out in her bedroom.

She wondered if she should climb back into bed and pretend she was asleep, but then she remembered her makeup and realised it would be too obvious she was not asleep. But what would he be doing up here anyway? She thought. Without her invitation? She rested her hands on her hips and all but stomped her foot at the thought of his brashness, though quickly realised it was all imaginary.

She paused by the bedroom door and leaned out to spy down the stairs though the curve in the stairway blocked her view of the front door. She cursed the ridiculous architect who designed the crap shack and edged out along the wall towards the top of the stairs. She could see his shadow by the door, his hand raised, poised to knock against the window but something was stopping him.

Lorelai watched, hunkered down as if making herself smaller would make it harder for him to see her, despite the fact that he was outside her house, on the other side of a door behind a frosted glass window. But just as she pushed aside her trepidation at him seeing her, she watched, as if in slow motion as his hand moved lower and to the side. She saw the door handle turn ever so slowly and he pushed it open, like a cat burglar entering the house in the middle of the night. Lorelai's instinct was to jump up and yell at him for having the audacity for entering her house without knocking, but instead she froze.

* * *

Luke killed the engine in her drive and examined the house. The curtains were drawn, the lights were off and the house was still. Though he realised, that meant nothing. She could be in the kitchen, which was in the back of the house, or she could be upstairs asleep. He tried to remember if she ever drew the curtains and racked his brains for the memories of all the times he had been up in her room for one reason or another. Wobbly dresser, creaking door, broken headboard, that one he didn't ask how it got damaged, He didn't lecture her on household maintenance. He fixed the latch on the divan bed base and attached a new strut to the headboard to a fix it then left, as quick as he could, trying desperately not to notice the red silken scarf that was tied to the top corner of the headboard.

No, he couldn't recall the curtains ever being closed, which made him think they never were and she was definitely still asleep in bed. Up before 8? No, not Lorelai. Rory maybe, but not Lorelai.

Ugh, even saying her name in his head made a wave of hot embarrassment wash over him.

He pushed the truck door wide open and winced at the sound of the loud creak. He left it open as he quickly made his way across the lawn to her front porch. He climbed the steps quickly and quietly and stood in front of the door frozen. If he knocked and she was awake, she would answer. If he knocked and she was asleep she might wake up. If he didn't knock and entered and she was awake she should be mad. If he didn't knock and entered and she was asleep...she would never be the wiser.

His options flew round and around his head as he tried to make a decision and before he had his mind made up, his hand moved towards the door handle.

He cursed under his breath and the unlocked door as the latch slicked back into the door and he slowly pushed it open and listened to the stillness from within. When no one came out to check on what was going he pushed it open a little further then stepped in and stretched around the corner to put the bag by the phone.

Lorelai watched as he crept through her hallway, seeming to hit every creaky floorboard on the way in, then leaned a hand on the arch and curled around the corner to reach the table without taking another step. There was something in his hand but she couldn't quite tell what it was from this angle. The need to rush down stairs and yank it out of his grasp was almost as powerful as her need to stay hidden. Almost.

Then he paused. She watched with curiosity as he put the item on the table but didn't release it, then slowly took it back and stood up straight. What was he doing? What was in his hand? Her curiosity was killing her.

Luke looked down at the bag in his hand and bit his lip. What if Rory found the bag? And opened it? And saw her…um...panties. He glanced around as if to check if anyone heard his thoughts then glanced around again for a better place to hide it. Somewhere Lorelai would find, but Rory would not. He looked at the couch and thought of putting it behind a cushion. Maybe under the stack of magazines on the coffee table. In the kitchen, by the kettle. Ugh, dammit, he should have just left it in the diner. Without really wanting to, but resigned to the fact that he was going to, Luke looked at the stairs.

Lorelai watched him carefully and as if her survival instinct kicked in, the hair on the back of her neck stood up on edge and goosebumps rippled up her arms and across her shoulders as his head started to turn towards her.

Shit! She rolled back out of sight and crawled across the hall to her room. On tiptoes she dashed over to the bed and pulled the duvet back, only to remember her perfectly made face and instead, hurried over to the bathroom.

Luke had one hand on the banister and the other held the bag to his chest. He took one step and listened, then another and listened again. Was that movement up there? The thought alone was almost enough to make him race out of the house and back to his truck. But whatever sound he had heard was now gone. Luke took a few more steps then paused again, this time for sure he heard something. He was almost at the top now. He could see her bedroom door and it was ajar.

He held his breath as he ascended the last two steps and crossed the hall with one more. He wanted to press his ear to the door, listen for the soft sound of her snoring. Did she snore? Doubtful he decided but shook his head to dismiss the thought of her snoring, or asleep, in bed, his bed… dammit!

Luke pushed the door open and grasped the handle to stop it moving as he heard the shower start. His heart was hammering in his chest, his breath was stuck in his throat and a film of sweat broke out over his forehead. He didn't realise it, but he had a white knuckle grip on the bag he was clutching.

Lorelai stood in the bathroom with the shower running behind her and started to hum a little tune she had heard on the radio the other day. She thought it was an add for milk or yogurt or something but that was so not important right now. What was important was that he knew she was up, and awake, and singing in the shower, like nothing was wrong. Nothing had affected her and this was just a normal Wednesday morning for her.

Of course if he pushed open the bathroom door he would see that was all a facade. Her angry eyes, deep frown, wide stance and hands on her hips would certainly give the game away. But he wouldn't do that. Oh no, Lorelai decided with a self assured chuckle. He wouldn't have the guts.

He spotted the empty bed, the rumpled duvet and the indent on the pillow that he just knew would still be warm from her slumber and he stared at it. She had left that same indent on his own pillow. That same indent that held her smell. The same indent he had ruffled out of the pillow as he angrily pulled the case off and tossed it onto the floor.

Luke shook his head again and bent over to drop the bag onto the floor by the door. But realised if he left it there, she would surely know he was here. Instead he opened the bag, pulled out the panties and tossed them over to the general direction of the laundry basket, which was buried under a pile of clothes. His eyes watched them flutter to the ground, the pink material sticking out like a sore thumb against the darker clothing that was already there but he couldn't fix that now. Instead he put the bag onto the dresser by the door, then turned on his heel and as quickly and quietly as he could he hurried out of the room.

He took the stairs in twos but on the balls of his feet, wincing at ever creak. His breath was burning his lungs as he made his way back across the hallway and over to the door then as slowly as he had opened it, he pulled it closed, only releasing a lungful of air when the latch clicked back into place. Luke didn't take any time to relax and instead he bolted across the lawn, over to his truck.

Lorelai stayed poised in the bathroom until she heard the engine start and his truck pull away. She slowly relaxed her shoulders, dropped her arms by her sides and let her shoulders slump with relief. Relief? She pondered as she reached in to turn off the shower.

She stood in her bedroom and looked around to see what it was he was doing up here but nothing seemed to be amiss. She dressed quickly and hurried down stairs to see if there was something she could spot around there but still, there was nothing. Her brain was frazzled, from lack of sleep and running on pure adrenaline but she was sure this wasn't a social visit. Some reason brought Luke to her house at the break of dawn and she was going to find out.

When Rory woke she had coffee ready and was just slipping two pop tarts into the toaster. They ate and chatted about their day plans and Rory suggested meeting at Luke's for dinner. Lorelai instead suggested Als claiming a craving for a greasy burger without the lecture from Luke and Rory smiled and patted her hand.

"But Mom," Rory said putting on her tried and tested whining voice. "The lecture is like the condiment that goes on the side. It doesn't taste the same without it."

Lorelai smiled and finished her coffee. "Grab your bag, let's get going." She put their dishes into the sink, promising herself she would definitely, most likely, probably clean them up tomorrow as she started the daily hunt for her keys.

"Where did you see them last?" Rory asked with a bored voice.

"In my bag…"

"Where did you see your bag last?" Rory asked, this time allowing her book back to slide off her shoulders as she recognised this was going to be a long hunt for keys.

"No, no, don't take the bag off!" Lorelai pulled her bag back up her shoulders and started for the stairs. "You look around here, I'll check up stairs."

"Which bag was it?"

"The pretty blue clutch with the...oh…" she started to realise where she had last seen it. "...the daisies on the front." she said her voice tapering off to a whisper as she slowed her climb and stood at the top of the stairs.

"The what? The daisies?" Rory stood on the bottom step and called up to her mother who was standing stock still at the top. "Mom? You find it?"

"No, um not yet honey, keep looking!" Lorelai turned and flashed her a bright smile she wasn't feeling, as she hurried over to her room. "That's what you were doing in here I bet!" she exclaimed as if she had just solved a mystery. "Now where did you put it."

Now that she knew what she was looking for she spotted the bag on her dresser immediately. She tugged the latch open and spotted her keys and wallet and usual mess but frowned. Why would he drop it up here, in her room? Why not pop it into the hallway table like it looked like he was doing at first.

"You are an enigma Luke Danes," she muttered under her breath, then turned to hurry down to Rory when she spotted the flash of bright pink in the corner. Usually a flash of pink in her room was nothing to be surprised by, but this was in her darks corner, where she usually piled her office clothes, the darker suits she wore to family dinners, the longer skirts she wore to work.

Lorelai stepped closer and turned on the overhead light, her hand fumbling for the switch as she refused to look away. The second the light hit the pink material, a small gasp rattled through her chest. Her hand flew to her mouth and she couldn't help the smile that curled her lips.

She bent to grab them and held them up to confirm, yes indeed, these were the panties she was wearing yesterday. Lorelai stifled a laugh at the thought of Luke harbouring them in her bag, then launching them across her room.

"Mom!" Rory yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "Did you find them yet?"

"Yes honey, I got them!" she called back and she tossed the panties over to the coloured pile of clothing and hurried down to take Rory to school.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** : Short chapter following Luke. Next Chapter following Lorelai.

Also note, timeline and show milestones might appear in this fic, but possibly out of order and not related to this fics setting. I'm not sure when its set. Rory is in school though.

* * *

Luke drove out of town like the devil himself was chasing him. For some ridiculous reason he kept looking in his rear view mirror, as if he expected her jeep following, and every time he caught himself he frowned deeper. As a result, he was driving on the motorway, a white knuckle grip on the wheel, and his eyes, framed with a deep, deep frown, focused on the road ahead.

He checked his watch. Nine Thirty. She would surely be up by now. And if she was up, she found her bag. Maybe she would think she put it there herself. He rolled his eyes at that thought and wondered if she was mad at him for sneaking in.

"Focus." He muttered through gritted teeth and tightened his grip on the wheel, then almost missing the large sign on the road he glanced in time to see this was his exit.

He tried to keep his mind clear as he navigated the narrow roads for the next hour then finally pulled up at his usual haunt near Bulwagga bay on the south tail of Lake Champlain. He grabbed his bag from the back of the truck and his camping and fishing gear too. He locked the truck, checked the doors then started up the trail towards the camping spot.

It was a few hours later when Luke had his tent pitched and was sitting by the side of the lake, his fishing rod stuck into the ground in front of him. He had his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, fingers buried past his hairline, his ever present hat, askew.

He didn't notice when his fishing line was tugged, as his eyes glazed over and his mind replayed, in horrifying detail, over and over again, everything that happened since he turned around and saw Lorelai standing in the diner yesterday.

That damn skirt. It could always pull him away from the precipice of his fury. And what was she thinking wearing that top? He remembered growling when he pulled it off her and tossed it over his shoulder, and he felt his cheeks heat up with a blush.

He remembered how soft her skin felt beneath his skin. How malleable her lips were against his. Her nails on his back, her leg curled around his hip. But throughout all of this, he didn't remember seeing her face. Were her eyes open or shut? What about her mouth? Did she bite her lip? He was so focused on getting their clothing off he wasn't really paying attention.

Did she gasp? At all? He screwed his eyes shut, both in an effort to try to remember, and push away the memory. So instead of focusing on his failure in bed with Lorelai, he instead let his mind wander to what had him so mad in the first place.

It had not wandered far from the front of his mind, so it was easy to recall the phone call. Liz's voice was firm and demanding when she told him why she had called, but he could hear another voice behind her. No doubt it was that waste of space boyfriend of hers, most likely the reason why she called out of the blue, suddenly so interested in his diner. His diner. Not hers. Not dad's his.

Luke stood up and pulled his fishing line in. He tugged the bait off the hook and tossed it to the water then closed up his tackle box and walked back to his tent. Without bothering to light a fire, as he hadn't caught anything Luke just opened the zipper on the tent flap and crawled in, collapsing on the puffy sleeping bag with a grunt.

"But Luke! Dad left that building to both of us!" He heard Liz's voice in his head and he screwed his eyes shut as the anger started to bubble up from it's simmering position just below the surface. "And I think it's only fair that you let me take half. My half."

"Half?! Half of what?" He had spoken through gritted teeth.

"Half of the building's worth."

"This is Stars Hollow Liz, not Manhattan. The building is not worth much."

He heard a muffled conversation and realised she must have covered the mouthpiece of the phone as she consulted with her co-conspirator. "The diner is."

"What?"

"If you won't let me sell the building to take half, then you can share with me the profits from the diner, or buy out my half."

"Liz…"

"Luke, I've had the will inspected by a lawyer. I'm only trying to exercise my rights to what I own."

Luke recognised the practised tone in what she was saying and how she was saying it. There was no way Liz was doing this on her own. There was no way she was suddenly so interested in his profit margin at the diner, or getting onto the property ladder.

That call had come right after the breakfast rush and it threw off his day altogether. Then when she had called back in the afternoon he told her he couldn't talk, but just hearing her voice on the phone was enough to make a wave of anger swell through him again, then just before closing, her lawyer rang.

That was his tipping point. He had used words like "acquisition", and "breach of contract" and "pertaining to the matter". Luke tried to argue back but his words were twisted by the lawyer and thrown back at him. It was all becoming a very real problem and seemed likely his sister could sue him and force him to sell the diner. His diner! His home! And the worst of it? Luke didn't get the satisfaction on hanging up on the conversation, and instead found himself on the other end of a dial tone.

He had slammed down the phone and paced around the diner. He wanted to rant and rave to expel his anger but the words just didn't come. Something was stopping them. Every time he opened his mouth to shout nothing came out and he ended up pacing with his mouth agape. Finally he could take no more. He grabbed the back of a chair and picked it up then slammed it down over and over onto the ground as he yelled. He turned to the counter and placed his hands flat on the Formica surface, his chin on his chest as he tried to take slow deep breaths.

That's when Lorelai came in.

He didn't hear the bells. He didn't hear her smart greeting. He didn't hear her concern. It wasn't until she placed a hand on the small of his back and stepped right in next to him that he looked up.

Lying in his tent now, his hands locked behind his head he let his mind replay their transition from the counter to his bed in super clear detail.

She had said something, he couldn't remember what, because he wasn't listening. He was looking at her eyes. Clear blue and full of concern. Then he was looking at her lips. Red and pursed, glistening with lip balm. Cherry flavoured he would later discover.

Her hand rested on his back and moved up to his shoulder blades. Her other hand was on his arm, loosely gripping him as she ran it up from his wrist to his elbow. He couldn't honestly put any reason into his next move but without hesitation he turned, swiftly, decisively, cupped her face in both hands and kissed her.

He felt her surprise, her lips parted and she gasped. The hand that was on his back was now on his hip and she gripped his shirt in a tight fist but he didn't wait to see if she was going to push him away or pull him closer. The hand that was on his arm fell onto the counter with a slap but even that did nothing to stop his lips as they moved across her jaw to her ear. This was better. This was what he needed to get his sisters and his sisters lawyers voice out of his head. Now he could focus on something else. Something softer.

When he felt her hand move from the counter and grip his other side he twirled her around, took hold of her hand and led her upstairs without pausing for thought. Up in his apartment he practically kicked the door open, pulled her in, and without giving her or himself a chance to change the pace, he kissed her again. This time both of his hands gripped her upper arms and steered her back towards his bed.

He pulled her top off over her head and tossed it over his shoulder, without hesitation he reached behind her back and unclasped her bra then, with two hands, dragged the straps off her shoulders and down her arms until it dropped to the floor. His hands moved to her hips as his lips explored her neck. He unzipped her skirt and slipped his hands below the trim to slide down her ass and let her skirt drop to the floor. She gripped his shoulders as she stepped out of the debris of clothing and his lips came back to find hers, his tongue exploring her mouth in quick possessive strokes.

Lorelai's legs hit the bed and she dropped with an oomph. Her hands fell behind her and she looked up at him. Luke didn't look back as he gripped the bottom of his shirt and tugged it off over his head, dislodging his hat in the process. He still didn't look when he opened his belt enough to reach the fasten on his jeans then dropped them and they fell to the floor in one motion.

He toed off his sneakers and kicked his jeans aside as he moved towards her. Lorelai dropped to her elbows, then to her back and shuffled up the bed as he snatched the edges of her panties and yanked them off before he crawled over her. He hovered just out of reach, the heat from his body covering her, but nothing actually touching until he lowered his head and kissed her again. His tongue pressed past her lips again and he dropped his body to cover her entirely.

He felt her hands grip his sides. Did she pull him closer? He felt her nails on his back but it wasn't until her leg moved that he pressed his hips against her. She planted her foot on the mattress and splayed her hips enough for him to press a little closer but before he could get as close as he actually wanted he moved away. Did she gasp then?

Luke shifted on his sleeping bag as the memory played out before him and he tried to ignore the discomfort in his jeans that suddenly felt tighter than they did before.

There he was, kneeling on the bed, between Lorelai's legs, her arms were flung over her head, her hair was fanned out on his pillow and her breasts were moving with her fast breathing and the mattress moving as he leaned over to his nightstand. One hand pulled the drawer open and rummaged inside as the other traced down her chest to her stomach, he circled her belly button then moved lower to tickle through the soft hair over her core.

What about then? Was there a gasp? Luke screwed his eyes shut as he tried to remember, but he couldn't hear it.

His fingers moved lower still, as the other hand finally grabbed the box he was looking for and pulled out the elusive foil package. She was wet and ready for him and her hip moved to lure his fingers to her entrance, but he pulled them away and sat up straighter.

Then, she had to have gasped or whimpered then. Hell he'd have settled for a moan, but still he couldn't hear it. And he was sure if had heard a moan from Lorelai Gilmore after he pulled his fingers out of her hot, wet, pussy, he would remember it. Luke felt himself get harder still and his jeans became more and more uncomfortable.

Back in his memory he ripped open the foil packet and swiftly rolled on the condom then without a preamble Luke guided himself to her entrance and slid in, in one long stroke. He dropped his head into the crook of her neck and felt her heel press into his ass.

"And I think it's only fair that you let me take half." He heard his sisters voice as he pulled out and pushed back into her, her breasts were crushed against his chest as his hips rocked against her and he could feel her nipples peaked against him.

That was a good sign right? Luke asked himself as he finally gave in and pulled his jeans open to ease the constriction he was feeling.

Her smell filled his senses and all but overwhelmed him. He pressed his hands into the mattress and leaned back to look down at her face. And that was when he saw it.

She was bored. Bored, beyond, belief. His hips moved against her, his cock slid in and out of her, but her eyes were glazed over and Luke felt his desire dissolve entirely.

Back on his sleeping bag Luke's burgeoning erection softened and he threw his arm over his face with an embarrassed groan.

"Dammit." His other hand balled up into a fist and he slammed it over and over into the ground as he cursed through gritted teeth under his breath.

It wasn't supposed to be like that. All the times he had thought about kissing her. To shut her up, to surprise her, to close that distance between them as she watched him. But instead he had kissed her out of anger. And not even anger directed at her. But his own anger. He had kissed her hoping she would quieten the anger he was feeling. And she had, for the most part, but this was too much anger even for him.

"Half. Half!" He said. "She wants half." He sat up and bent his legs, connecting his hands with his elbow around his knees. Lorelai's face flashed before him and his eyes fluttered closed. How in the hell was he going to face her to apologise. How in the hell was he even going to apologise? He snorted. How do you apologise for shitty sex with their best friend?

Luke buried his face in his hands and cursed again. "Dammit."


	4. Chapter 4

Lorelai leaned across the car and kissed Rory before she could jump out of the car and run for the bus. She watched her board and waited for the bus to pull off before she drove away. Seeming to want to torture herself, Lorelai drove around the square, passing the diner at a snail's pace to try and catch a glimpse of Luke behind the counter, but all she saw was Caesar walking around pouring coffee. Lorelai frowned as her car came to a rolling stop, so she could get a proper look.

Caesar serving coffee meant Luke was either working the kitchen or...with a realisation and a slump of her shoulders Lorelai knew, without a shadow of a doubt that Luke was not in that kitchen, hell, not in that building. A honk of a car behind her, made her jump and she quickly drove off. She had driven to the Inn almost every day for the last five years so autopilot kicked in, allowing her time to remember.

It wasn't unusual for Luke to be on the customer side of the counter, but it was unusual for him to be there without a pot of coffee, a rag or a pad and pencil in his hands. He didn't react to the bells ringing when she pushed the door open. He didn't even react when she called out to him. Hell, she didn't wear this skirt to be ignored. Especially when paired with this pink top. Pink! Hot Pink. Not to be ignored.

"Luke! Spread 'em!" she had called out, clapping her hands together to make finger guns when she noticed his stance against the counter, hands flat on the surface. Nothing. She walked further into the diner and plonked herself down on the stool next to him. "Well? Do I gotta pour my own coffee now?" she said, but still, no reaction. "Hey, hey Luke?" She reached out and put her hand on his back and she could feel the tension rippling through him. Lorelai stood off the stool and closer to Luke and put a hand on his arm. "Luke, whats wrong?"

He turned to look at her and she caught the fury in his eyes but instead of making her step back, it made her step closer, and run her hand up his back to his shoulder in what she hoped was a soothing, comforting gesture. "Luke?"

Before she knew what was happening his lips were on her. His hands were warm as they cupped her face and she had to hold onto the counter to stop herself from dropping to the ground. His lips were demanding, his tongue was exploring her mouth in ways she never thought Luke would possess. Or at least not for their first kiss. She thought their first kiss would be soft, shy, slow. But this was the total opposite.

Lorelai chuckled to herself as she pulled onto the highway to the Inn. "Hard, heedless, and hurried?" she said aloud, even checking the mirror to make sure she saw her own eyes roll.

At first she thought he just grabbed her for a kiss and was going to pull away and look down at her with those blue eyes searching her face and she would be able to...grab him and kiss him again because this was too good for a once off.

She took her fingers off the wheel and pressed them to her lips. His kiss was still palpable. She wanted to close her eyes and bask in the memory but she was traveling at speed on the highway so she kept them open and instead replayed the memory, over and over and over again. Their first kiss.

"Wow." she took in a deep shaky breath and slowly let it out with puffed cheeks. The kiss was fantastic. It was better than anything she had ever experienced. It was...Luke.

The rest though? The rest was...she didn't know what it was. Her frown came back as she remembered his hands gripping hers, but his lips so far away from hers. They were upstairs before she really knew they had moved, when all she could really think about was having another kiss. Thankfully, no sooner did he have her in his apartment that his lips were on her again and Lorelai sighed against him.

She had her hands on his chest, marveling at the strength she found there beneath the soft flannel. His lips were moving from her mouth, over her jaw to her ear and when he suckled her lobe into his mouth, she groaned.

Lorelai laughed at the memory and enjoyed the warm blush that covered her cheeks. She moaned, against Luke's ear, while he had her ear in his mouth, his tongue doing wonderful things to her. She smirked at how quick he got her top off and blushed at how little protest she put up. She didn't even pretend to be shy, she didn't bother to cover herself up like she usually did. Then the next thing she knew her bra was on the floor and his hands were running over her ass, pushing her skirt off as his lips claimed hers again, his tongue hot and demanding as it explored her mouth.

Her legs hit the bed and she dropped to the mattress. She waited for him to follow but instead he stepped back and peeled off his top, revealing a broad muscular chest with a light dusting of hair that tapered off below his belt. Her eyes roamed over him and she wanted her hands to join them. Her lips too, her tongue. She felt a warm pulse building between her legs and she was so sure he would be able to tell. Her heart pounded in her chest and she expected any minute now she would be doing an impression of John Hurt in Alien.

But all thoughts of that scene disappeared when his hands moved to his belt and he started to open his jeans. Her breath caught in her throat when he pushed them down, and it was with a little shock she realised he had brought his boxers along with them. He didn't give her a chance to take it all in, to reach out and touch him, to stroke what she knew was going to feel amazing. Instead he moved towards her, forcing her to fall back onto her elbows then her back. He moved to hover above her and she expected him to fall atop of her, cover her with his hard muscular body but instead his fingers gripped the edge of her panties and pulled them off. She wasn't even sure how he got them off her so quickly but if it meant he was going to be pressed against her sooner, then she didn't mind.

He hovered above her and she tingled all over with the heat from his body and she felt like she was going to ignite if he didn't get closer. How could he stand this!? She was about to protest when his lips touched hers and all complaints dissipated. Then his body lowered against hers and all thoughts followed her complaints. She gripped his sides, making sure he didn't pull away, needing him to be closer still. She moved her leg aside, planted her foot on the mattress and opened herself up for him. He sank closer and she moaned into his mouth. Then he pulled away.

Lorelai pulled into her parking space at the inn and frowned. Why did he pull away then? Why wasn't he looking at her? Why wasn't he talking? She shook her head and snorted. Luke was not the most talkative person in the world, did she expect he would suddenly change the minute he was naked?

But he did pull away. And she definitely gasped then. Both at the sensation of loss from his body against hers, as well as the added pressure his movement put against her core. She moaned at the loss of contact and wondered what the hell he was doing. All those thoughts flitted away when his fingers moved down her chest. No thoughts existed, or may ever again exist when she felt his fingers slip through the soft hair covering what she knew was his final destination and when his fingers slipped past her folds only one thought came to mind. Now. She moaned and rolled her hips towards him, hoping the fingers that teased her entrance would go deeper but instead he pulled them away entirely and she wanted to sob.

Until she noticed what he was doing. Lorelai watched with greedy eyes as he ripped the package open and slipped the condom on. She wanted to reach up and grab him, help him secure it in place but before she could move he lowered himself to her and skillfully guided himself to her entrance. Lorelai splayed her legs further apart to give him more room as he slid into her. She sighed with relief but needed more. She pressed her heel into his ass to be sure he didn't pull away this time.

She arched her back, loving how the hair on his chest brushed against her breasts as he moved and she pressed them closer. His breath was hot and comforting against her neck, short puffs of air making her want to wrap her arms around him and hold him there forever.

But seemingly he had other ideas. He pressed his hands into the mattress either side of her head and she watched as he leaned up over her, his cock buried deep inside her and he looked at her for what seemed like the first time since he kissed her in the diner.

Something crossed his face. Worry? Anger? A mixture of both? She wasn't sure what it was, but it wasn't the ecstasy she expected. Then everything changed. She watched as he frowned, looked down at where they were connected then pulled out of her entirely and moved to the side.

Lorelai had one hand on the car door and the other on her lap as she recalled how he cursed under his breath and lay beside silent. Was it really that bad? Was _she_ really that bad? I mean it was sex! Good sex she thought, but obviously he didn't. He didn't even finish. That had never happened to her before. Even shitty sex ended with the guy...finishing. She covered her face with her hands and groaned.

What had she done wrong? Did she not moan at the right times? Did she not touch him or kiss him right? Shit… was she really bad at this? After all this time she would have thought someone would have told her. Lorelai scoffed again and climbed out of the jeep. Someone one would have told her, yeah all three of the men she had slept with in her entire life. They seemed happy with her. They seemed happy with what she was doing and how she sounded. Why wasn't Luke?

Maybe it wasn't her, maybe he was not enjoying it because...because...dammit! Why was he not enjoying it?! She walked through the inn and went right to the kitchen where she knew she would find Sookie.

"Morning honey, you look crappy!" Sookie said with a delightful tone.

"Gee thanks, I come for the coffee, I stay for the compliments."

"What's wrong? No Luke's coffee this morning?"

"No, we were running late so we didn't have time."

"I just made a fresh pot, so help yourself," Sookie said and she gestured over her shoulder with a large knife.

Lorelai went over and poured herself a large mug of coffee then leaned back against the counter and sipped it. The topic of Luke swirled around her head but she wasn't sure if she was ready to bring it up yet. How could she admit to Sookie that she had slept with Luke, well, half slept with Luke, and that it was nothing like she expected. She enjoyed it, but seemingly he didn't. That wasn't quite an easy topic to broach with anyone.

"Hey, Lorelai," Sookie was tugging on her arm to get her attention. "Honey, whats up?"

Lorelai looked over at her friend and offered her a sad smile. "You got a sec to talk Sookie?"

"Yeah, of course." She undid her apron and draped it over the edge of the counter, sensing this was going to be a long talk, not a quick chat.

Lorelai led Sookie out onto the back porch and sat on the swing and waited for her to join. Though even when she did, she Lorelai struggled to get the words out.

"Well?" Sookie asked and she clasped Lorelai's hand. "What is it? What's wrong? Is it Rory?" Sookie's voice got progressively higher as she spoke and Lorelai patted her arm to calm her down.

"Rory is fine, or at least she was when I put her on the bus to Chilton this morning, so unless there was some bus crash on the way to school, she is fine."

"Do you think there was a bus crash?" Sookie asked alarmed.

"No!" Lorelai chuckled, despite the heaviness she felt surrounding her. "No, Rory is fine."

"So what is it?"

"I slept with Luke."

"What?" Sookie's voice was at a frequency Lorelai was sure only dogs could hear and the grip she had on her hand started to hurt.

"Wait...there's more."

"More?" Sookie shrieked. "Oh god, are you pregnant?"

"Sookie! No!"

"Sorry. Tell me, what happened?"

"I went into the diner yesterday and Luke was there."

"Wuuuuu!"

"He was leaning against the counter, like a perp on a tv show but there was something… something wrong with him."

Sookie's teasing died on her lips. "What happened?"

"He didn't react at all to my greeting and I thought something was seriously wrong but when I got closer and finally got him to look up, he grabbed me and kissed me."

"Ohhhhh!" Sookie clapped excitedly.

"We went upstairs, he pulled my clothes off-"

"Oh my god, so hot!"

"We got onto his bed and then…"

"Then what?" Sookie asked pulling on her hand, dying to hear the rest.

"Then...it was over."

"Oh." Sookie slumped back in her seat. "He had a bit of a premature-"

"No!" Lorelai said and slapped Sookie's arm. "It wasn't over over, but he pulled away."

"Huh?"

"I dunno what happened Sookie. I thought it was going great...except…"

"Except what?"

"He didn't seem to be enjoying it."

"You mean it wasn't…" Sookie made a gesture around her middle and winced. "Solid?"

"No, I mean he didn't seem to be enjoying it. Enjoying me. He didn't look at me. He didn't smile, he didn't talk the whole time."

"He isn't much of a talker."

"I wasn't expecting a conversation but a few ' _Oh that's good_ or an odd ' _you look beautiful_ ' would have been nice. Instead I got nothing."

"He's more of a grunter." Sookie offered as a way of solace.

"He didn't."

"Moaner?" Lorelai shook her head and Sookie frowned. A heavy silence fell between them as Lorelai waited for her friend to say something but Sookie was muted.

Lorelai sipped her coffee and sat back into the swing making it rock back and forth. "Do you think-"

"No. I don't."

"You didn't let me finish."

"You don't need to finish." Sookie moved her leg to push the swing again and clasped Lorelai's hand tighter. "I don't think he got you into bed and was repulsed by what he saw. I don't think he was immediately turned off by the sight of you. I don't think you did anything wrong." Lorelai smiled and Sookie looked over at the glistening tears in her eyes. "Oh honey." Sookie pulled her in for a tight hug and soothed her hair back off her face. "Oh honey, honey, honey. Luke likes you. He really really likes you." Sookie kissed the top of her head. "I don't know what was going on last night, but I bet you a million trillion dollars it had nothing to do with you."

Lorelai chortled. "Right, my being there, naked and panting beneath him, had nothing to do with why he ran off."

"You were panting?" Sookie asked with a smile.

"Like a dog." Lorelai groaned and sat up then buried her face in her hands. "How am I ever going to face him again?"

Sookie smiled. "Please, he will be running round to you before you can say 'oh Luke, harder!'" Without looking Lorelai threw her hand back and slapped Sookie's arm. "Sorry, sorry," Sookie said laughing.

"Oh Sookie, it was awful." Lorelai sat back again. "He practically ran to the bathroom and I escaped home." She dry washed her face. "I'm never going to be able to forget this."

"Why would you want to!"

"Sookie! It was terrible!"

"All of it?"

"Most of it...some...just the abrupt ending."

"Well then. Just remember the rest of it, and ignore the ending," Sookie chuckled. "Then focus on getting a better ending next time.'

"Next time?" Lorelai snorted. "Having a next time would involved seeing Luke again. And that is something I'm pretty sure I never want to do again."

"Oh honey, it's just so raw right now, but this will pass. Luke will come looking for you and you'll get your happy ending."

"You think?"

"I know."

Lorelai took the cheek kiss from Sookie, then let the swing sway when she bustled back to the kitchen. She listened to the words Sookie said over and over and wondered if Luke really would come running. And if he did, what would she do. Would she be able to face him with the humiliation of knowing he saw her naked, saw her naked and walked away.

"Ugh," she groaned and buried her head in her hands again and banished all thoughts of Luke to the back of her mind.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N** : Apologies for the delay in updating!

* * *

It had been a week.

A week and Luke still hadn't come running. Sookie watched Lorelai's mood sink lower and lower with each passing day, until finally it got to the point that Lorelai wasn't talking. She responded when questioned, but had stopped offering thoughts, mindless chatter, random observations. And that's when Sookie really started to worry.

Sookie knew the root cause of her mood, and also knew that the root cause was still fishing. A week in hiding. A week! She mixed the cake batter in the large bowl with vengeance, as all the thoughts of what she would be doing to Luke if he walked in, came to the forefront of her mind, but stopped and dropped the bowl onto the counter when the door swung open and Lorelai came skipping in.

"Sweetie?" Sookie watched as Lorelai moved to the coffee pot a wide smile across her face. "You're looking...happy."

"I am."

"Oh? Is...um is Luke-"

"Luke back? I dunno. I don't care." She said with a flippant tone as she poured her coffee and took a long sip. "So ask me about my plans tonight?"

"What are your plans tonight?" Sookie asked carefully.

"I have a date."

"A date? With who?"

"Rob."

"Rob?"

"Rob! Rob! You know Rob!"

"Rob? I don't know a Rob! Rob who?"

"Rob the cable guy."

"The guy who was out here the other day fixing the cable."

"Yeah. Hence the moniker." Lorelai said with a waggle of her eyebrows as she sipped the coffee again and leaned against the counter behind her. "He had to come back today to fit the last three rooms and we got to chatting."

"Chatting huh?" Sookie watched him carefully.

"Yeah and so I asked him out."

Sookie dropped the knife she was holding and turned on her heel to face Lorelai with both arms on her hips. "You asked him out?"

"Yeah, for a drink tonight at Casey's."

"And he said yes."

"Yeah, of course he did, why wouldn't he?" Lorelai bristled.

"No honey, that's not what I meant." Sookie crossed over and rubbed her arm. "I'm just surprised is all."

"Surprised that a guy would want to go out with me?"

"No!" Sookie shrieked. "Surprised that you'd want to go out with anyone. Anyone other than-"

"Don't say it Sook." Lorelai turned and put her half empty mug into the sink. "Don't say his name."

"Lorelai-"

"You said he'd come running. He didn't come running." Lorelai gripped the sink. "I'm not waiting any longer for him to come running." She sighed, then added, "I was an idiot to wait in the first place."

"It's been a week. He's not even back yet."

"It doesn't matter. It was a stupid, stupid mistake and we'll both get over it eventually, but I'm not waiting around for him to come running."

"Oh honey, what you shared with Luke wasn't a mistake."

"But it was humiliating." Lorelai turned back and forced a smile for Sookie. "And it's over. It's passed. So on to new things."

"Like Rob."

"Like Rob."

Sookie smiled and Lorelai left. She forced the smile to stay plastered on her face as she made it through the foyer and to her office where she closed the door and leaned back against it. And before she could stop herself, she slid to the floor and hugged her knees.

 _A week_. It would have been easier to avoid Luke if he was around to avoid. But his being away meant she was frustrated with her lack of ability to avoid him. Rory had dragged her into the diner for dinner four times this past week and every time she walked in with shaking hands and heart pounding in her chest and even when she saw Caesar taking orders and serving dishes it took her a moment or two to calm down. Over the past week, her fear had turned to worry. Her worry had turned to anger. And her anger had bubbled over into frustration. So she wanted to barrell past frustration and just get on with her life.

And that included going out with Rob. Lorelai hugged her legs to her chest and rested her forehead on her knees. Rob wasn't the answer to her questions. But he was attracted to her. She knew that for sure. She knew he would want to sleep with her. And she knew he would enjoy it.

* * *

Luke pulled at the tie that was around his neck to straighten it and resisted the urge to loosen it, or hell, pull it off entirely. The waiting room was stuffy, the air was close and he was struggling to take a full breath. But there was no way he was going to walk into this mediation session with his sister and her boyfriend, what was she called him, Eric? ugh, with a loose and crooked tie. He shuffled the folder on his lap and resettled himself on the chair.

He'd already spoken one on one with the mediator and shared with him his opinion on what was happening. Now Liz was in there with Eric, telling the mediator her side of the story. Or rather, Eric's side. Luke was seething and his tie felt even tighter.

"Luke Danes?"

He looked up and saw the secretary calling him in. Without hesitation he jumped up and hurried through the door she had left open. The mediation room was long with a table in the centre that was big enough to sit up to twenty people. At the top of the table the mediator was sitting with a large folder closed in front of him. The secretary sat to the side with a typewriter of some sort in front of her. And across from where he was supposed to sit, Luke saw Liz and Eric.

He crossed the room and took his seat without taking his eyes off Liz but she didn't dare look at him. The mediator opened the folder and shuffled through a few pages to find what he was looking for.

"So I've spoken to both parties individually and now we need to discuss the issue to find an amicable resolution. Mr Danes, you're disputing the will?"

"No." Luke said. "I'm not disputing the will."

"You're disputing the value of the split!" Eric said.

"Please, only direct your comments and questions to me," the mediator said, then turned to Luke. "You don't dispute the will?"

"No, my father left both of us the building which contained his business, when he passed ten years ago."

"And the business was…?"

"A hardware store." Then he added, with a glare at Eric, "A failing hardware store."

"Do you have the books?"

"Yeah, I do." Luke pulled out the files from the folder and slid them to the mediator. "These are the accounts for the last two years of the businesses. As you can see he was losing money year on year."

The mediator took the time to read through the accounts.

"After I shut the business down. I had to remortgage the building to close the accounts my father had opened with various supply stores."

"Has the mortgage since been closed?"

"Since I opened the diner I've managed to close the mortgage."

The mediator went back to reading the will and the accounts. Then turned to face Liz who was still staring at her lap. "You claim 50% rights on the building?"

"The will states that the business-" Eric started to speak.

"I can see what the will says. But according to these books, the business was in arrears. Did you pay for any of the debts that had to be closed?" Liz shook her head. "At the time of the will, the business was failing."

"But the building was worth something."

"The building was worth capital for the business," the mediator said.

"Half of that capital belonged to me." Everyone looked up at him including Liz, and Luke tried to capture her eyes but she quickly looked back down to her lap. "To her, I mean."

"The building worth at the time of the will was…"

"The retail portion of the building was valued at 330 thousand dollars and the upper floor an additional 97 thousand."

"And the arrears?"

"All in there was an arrears of 210 thousand dollars."

"What?!" Luke looked over at Eric who had shouted his surprise across the table at him. "How did a small town hardware store run up nearly a quarter of a million dollars worth of debt?"

"My father didn't collect payment for large orders on delivery. He made deals by shaking hands and he let people pay him back when they could. He in turn paid back the suppliers when he could. It was a system."

"A failing system."

"His system." Luke defended. "It worked for him." He shrugged and looked over at Liz. "We never went hungry, we always had clothes on our back. It worked for us."

"So you remortgaged the building for the entire amount?"

"I was able to pay some of it upfront, but I needed to remortgage it for 190 thousand dollars."

"And it took you how long to pay that off?"

"Five years."

"What was the interest rate on the mortgage offered?"

"For a five year LTV loan I got 3.9% interest rate." Luke passed him more banking information and the full history of the mortgage loan.

For a few tense moments the only sound in the room was the ticking of a clock on the wall then the mediator collected all the material shared with him and put them into the folder before him. "I think I've heard enough."

"When will you let us know your decision?" Luke asked as he shuffled the pages back into his folder.

"You will have the report in writing within ten working days." The mediator stood. "You will have the chance to appeal my decision, but that appeal must be lodged within 72 hours."

"Thanks," Luke stood too and held out his hand. The mediator looked down at it, then back up at Luke and shook his head. Luke took his hand back and focused on picking up his folder.

Eric shoved whatever it was he had in front of him into a leather briefcase then stood and stormed out of the room.

"Liz…" Liz looked up and Luke's anger almost dissipated when he saw the lost look in her eyes. "Liz, whats going on? Do you need money? Is that what this is about?" He rounded the table to get closer to her but she was already gathering her things and backing away.

"Look Luke, I need to get what dad meant to give to me." She got around the table and Luke reached out to grab her arm, but she shook him off.

"Hey Liz," Eric stuck his head in the door. "Lets go."

Luke watched as his sister hurried off to be with the man who was suing him and his shoulder slumped. Never had he felt so alone or helpless.

He grabbed his folder and walked out of the office and back to his truck then pulled off his tie and tossed it over his shoulder. He rolled up his shirt sleeves and rolled down the window and let the breeze waft over him for a few minutes, before starting the engine to make his way back to Stars Hollow.

* * *

Casey's was not as loud and lively as Lorelai had hoped it would be. It was subdued even for a Tuesday evening though she guessed most of Stars Hollow residents were not massive midweek party goers. Except of course for Bootsy, who was singlehandedly commanding the jukebox to play the fully Johnny Cash anthology.

She had chosen a booth near the door and watched it with a smile plastered on her face, jumping a little every time the door opened and faltering when it wasn't Rob that walked in. She checked her watch. She had arrived early, when usually she would be the open to make her date wait a little, and had ordered a drink but she didn't expect to be ready to order another one before he had even arrived.

She checked her watch again. Still quarter past eight. It was eight right? She replayed the conversation over in her head and confirmed that they had agreed to meet at eight. She had arrived at 7.30, a little more eager than usual. A lot more eager, but she was dying to get this date started. Dying to get it finished with she admitted with a sigh.

She looked down at her watch, twisting her wrist enough to see it without lifting her arm. Eight seventeen. Wow, time really did move slower in Casey's. The waitress approached and took Lorelai's empty bottle.

"Another?"

Lorelai cast a surreptitious glance at the door and then again down to her watch. Well, she was out already and for the first time in a week not brooding at home in her pjs with a pint of ice cream so why not. She smiled and nodded at the waitress who left. Now with nothing in her hands, nothing to fondle, nothing to pick at, her fingers interlocked back and forth as she waited.

She couldn't remember ever waiting for a date like this before. Though there hadn't been that many dates to wait for, she realised. With Rory at home and bringing her up on her own, there wasn't much opportunity to be in bars waiting for men. The waitress brought her drink and Lorelai smiled then looked up to see Bootsy reenacting the Folsom prison concert on one of the tables only to be dragged down by the barman. She chuckled, enjoyed the show and felt herself relax a little.

"Lorelai?"

She turned, the bottle still on her lips and saw Rob standing next to her.

"Rob!"

"Hey, I'm so sorry I'm late."

"That's fine, I just got here a few minutes ago."

Rob slid into the booth across from her and sheepishly looked down. "I was leaving work to go home and get changed and a call came in for the hospice, cable was out, and matlock was about to begin."

"Ah, a real emergency!"

"So I had to go fix that but then I didn't get a chance to go home." He gestured at himself and Lorelai only noticed then that he was wearing his khakis and work polo, complete with his name embroidered on the sleeve. "And I wanted to dress up for you!"

"It's fine Rob, it's Casey's." Lorelai sipped her beer and gestured at the waitress to bring another. "So…"

"So…" A moment of silence fell between them and the waitress dropped over Robs drink. He lifted it and took a long drink. "So huh, come here often?" he said with a crooked smile.

Lorelai smiled and reached across the table to pat his arm. "Relax Rob, the lateness is forgotten."

"It's been a while since I was out on a date."

"Yeah?"

"I guess I just focus on work, and everything else fades away. It's been difficult getting the cable business to a point I feel like I can take any time off."

"I can imagine, especially in a place like Stars Hollow that is still so attached to the wireless!"

"Huddled around the storefront windows watching the news."

"Grabbing the headlines off the town crier."

"Here ye! Here ye!" Rob yelled out, garnering the attention of some of the other patrons and Lorelai laughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand to try and keep it quieter. Rob settled back in his chair and they shared a smile.

Nerves diminished, smiles got a little looser and they talked easily, swapping work stories and nightmare customers back and forth. Lorelai was surprised at how easily the conversation came. She was always a good talker, and certainly able to carry on a conversation, even if her partner was not a chatty cathy, but this was easy, relaxed and ...safe.

Lorelai watched as Rob crossed the bar to the bathroom and the word "safe" rattled around her head. He was a nice guy, had a good job, a killer smile, and was able to hold his own in their conversation. Hell he'd even gotten her Flash Gordon reference. But she wasn't feeling any reciprocation. She didn't notice him checking out her chest, her lipstick, her nail varnish, anything. He kept eye contact and didn't venture south of the border.

Was he not attracted to her? A ripple of doubt made it's way over her spine and she shuddered to get rid of it. Rob was making his way back and about to settle into the booth again but she reached across the table and grabbed his arm.

"Hey," she put on her most demure smile. "You wanna get out of here?"

Rob's smile widened and he nodded. He turned his arm and grasped her hand then tugged her out of the booth. She slipped on her jacket and led him out of the bar. He had his hand on the small of her back as he propelled her out of the room, eager to get out of the bar/ The ripple of worry was replaced by a ripple of desire at the sensation of his hand on her and Lorelai smile was wide as she pulled open the heavy bar door.

She was looking back over her shoulder and smiling at Rob as she stepped through the door, and right into Luke.

With a soft shriek she planted both hands on his chest to stop herself from losing her balance, and he grabbed her upper arms to hold her still. She looked up, already knowing the face she was going to see and felt all the blood drain from her face and pool around her toes. His grip on her arms seem to tighten and her fingers curled against the soft cotton blend of his white shirt and she tore her eyes away from him as she felt the hot blush creep back up her neck to colour her cheeks.

For a beat, no one moved. Then noticing the man standing behind her Luke released his grip on her arms and stepped back, allowing her enough space to walk through.

Lorelai immediately felt a pang of loss as her hands fell off his chest and dropped by her sides. She felt pressure on the small of her back pushing her forward soshe let it. She didn't look back and instead focused on buttoning up her coat as they crossed the road towards the park.

"Did you know that guy?" Rob asked as he took her elbow and guided her over the road and into the park.

"Hmm?" she stalled wondering how to respond.

"The guy at the door back there, is he an ex?"

"And ex?" Lorelai chuckled mirthlessly. "No, he most certainly is not an ex. An Ex would imply there was a thing from which to break up, which there was not."

Rob watched her intently as she brushed down the front of her coat and looked everywhere but at him.

"Look, I don't want to get in the middle of anything here," he said and he held his hands up, palms out.

"Middle? No, there is no middle." Lorelai turned to face him and grabbed his hands. "There is you, and there is me, and there is this wonderful park." Rob smiled. "Noting in the middle…" she leaned in towards him and his lips curved in a soft smile. Lorelai kissed him.

She didn't know what to expect. Fireworks? Sparks? Tingles? Anything? Instead all she felt was his lips against her. His hands as they grabbed her elbows and his body when he pulled her against him. But other than that, there was nothing.

Lorelai felt a pang springthrough her chest when she realised this was a failed attempt to stoke a fire that wasn't taking. She pulled back and looked up at him. He was looking back with a smile, clearly ready to keep going but Lorelai stepped back again.

"Um…" she began. His smile faltered. "Listen…" He released her and dropped her arms.

"Nothing?" he asked, an arched eyebrow. Lorelai shook her head slowly.

"Sorry," she started to apologise and try to think of something to say but he cut her off.

"Forget it, it was worth a shot right?" Lorelai nodded. "Let me take you home."

* * *

 **A/N** : This is a Luke/Lorelai pairing story, that's all I write for GG. But I may have them temporarily paired with others until they can circle back to each other. #FairWarning


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I'm moving house, so expect sporadic updates for a couple of weeks.

* * *

Luke closed the heavy bar door behind him and walked straight to the bar. He signalled for a drink then sat and rested his elbows on the edge of the bar and held his head in his hands.

"Tough day Luke?" Casey put the pint in front of him

"Yeah, tough day," Luke said, speaking through his hands.

"Here, take this." Casey put a smaller glass in front of him and poured in some whiskey. "It might take the edge off."

Luke looked up and saw the chaser. He nodded at Casey and reached for the whiskey. It wasn't long before he had finished both drinks, the refills Casey poured, without having to be asked, and the refills he poured after Luke asked.

His anger was fading and churning into worry. Something was up with Liz and he was going to get to the bottom of it. With or without a mediator. But that worry was being over run by the maelstrom of emotions he was feeling after running into Lorelai.

It was bad enough to see her for the first time since the...incident. Luke shook his head and sipped his whiskey. But to see her on what looked like a date really cut him. He kept remembering it. Her hands on his chest, her eyes on his lips, her look of shock and then she looked away and walked by him, taking all the air out of his lungs with her.

Those eyes. Those god damn blue eyes were haunting him.

He finished his whiskey and put the glass back on the bar upside down. Then picked up his pint and drained the dregs of that too. Those eyes could not control him anymore. He would not let them. He would move on with his life. Figure out what was going on with Liz and how he can help her then just focus on the diner.

He took the money out of his wallet and dropped it on to the bar then turned on his stool and stood.

"You're not driving are you Luke?" Casey asked as he put the money into the till and the empty glasses into the dishwasher.

"Not now no, I'll grab a cab." He patted his pockets, clocking his keys, wallet, phone then slowly, careful not to move too fast as the room was swimming a little, made his way out onto the street to flag down a cab. But instead of watching traffic he made his way over the road to the park. He found a bench and dropped onto it with a heavy sigh that seemed to be never ending.

What. The. Hell. Happened.

A little over a week ago he was in his diner, flirting with Lorelai, pretending to be annoyed at her bit about the turkey club. He loved the turkey club bit. He made her a turkey club to hear the bit.

Then 24 hours later he found out he was being sued by his sister and was in danger of losing his diner, he kissed Lorelai which resulted in the worst, most humiliating sexual encounter he had ever experienced. And that included the fumble in the back of his truck when he was 15 with Marnie Wetherson who had just gotten his zip down when he went ahead finished what it was they were trying to do before they even got started. Even that was not near the scale of humiliation he was feeling about what happened with Lorelai.

How was he ever going to face her again?

"By ignoring it." he said. His hands fell to his thighs with a slap and he stood. "The Danes come from a long line of top shelf ignorers." He started to walk back to the street to hail a cab. "I am already an accomplished ignorer." He chuckled. "Hell, I've been ignoring my feelings for Lorelai for a long time already. Why not just keep doing that!" He put his arm out to hail a passing cab but it didn't stop. "See,even that guy gets it." He started walking in the direction of home. But every step he took his resolution faded more and more. He never had been good at ignoring Lorelai. Sure he ignored his feelings for her, but never her. That was impossible.

She would be in the diner, she would be wearing that skirt. Or the purple cardigan that curved around her breasts. The powder blue halter top that accentuated the soft curve of her neck to her shoulders, and the boots. Oh god the boots. So many boots. Soft leather, suede. Short heels, high heels. Above the ankle, below the knee. He wondered briefly if she had any that went above the knee but before that image could manifest he shook his head to dispel it and looked back over his shoulder to see if another cab was coming.

Yeah, ignoring it was going to work like a goddamn charm.

* * *

Lorelai walked into the inn with a smile plastered on her face. She greeted staff and guests and flipped through the mail as she made her way to the kitchen. Sookie was ready, and waiting for her to come in, so the minute she walked through the swing door she pounced on Lorelai.

"How was the date?" Sookie all but shouted at her, grasping her arm and walking with her to the coffee pot.

"Geez Sookie, give a girl some warning."

"How was it?"

"It was fine."

"Oh. Fine." Sookie let her go and looked at her with a sad smile.

"He was nice, but we kissed and there was no… spark."

"Not a good kiss?"

"The kiss was fine, it was just…"

"Riiiiiight." Sookie smiled knowingly. "Had someone else in mind?"

"What?! No!" But Lorelai could not help the blush that crept up her cheeks.

"Ah ha!"

"What ah ha. There is no ah ha."

"Ah ha you're blushing."

"It's hot in here."

"No. Please, don't even try."

Lorelai sighed and her shoulders slumped. "It was going well, really well," she admitted. "And we decided to leave the bar, take a walk in the park, but as we were leaving Luke came in."

"Oh no, honey, no," Sookie said with a soft laugh.

"I literally walked into him at the door. It was all very film noir."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing, he just stepped aside and let us both out."

"Oh honey," Sookie said soothingly as she rubbed her friends arm. "Luke is an idiot."

"Well maybe he's an idiot, but I'm still humiliated. I should just move."

"No way!" Sookie declared. "He should move!"

"Yeah he should move, and take his crappy diner with him. With the donuts and danishes and the coffee."

Sookie pulled Lorelai in for a hug and rubbed her back. "It'll all be fine honey, you and Luke will move past this and you'll both be back to normal soon."

Lorelai let Sookie offer her comfort but it did nothing to assuage her discomfort. She didn't think this was something that would blow over or fade away with time. The only way to solve this particular issue was to talk about it. With Luke. And that was something she was never going to be able to do.

"I'm making omelettes for breakfast, you want one?"

"No thanks Sook, I'm good." She started to walk towards the door. "I'll see you for lunch."

Another week had passed and still the burning humiliation felt fresh. Lorelai walked into her office, carefully avoiding the kitchen and questions from Sookie. It was a week of dates. What had started with Rob, the cable guy was followed up with Shel the meat guy, Kurt the horse trainer, Martin the mail carrier, Tom the landscaper, Brody the wholesaler, and finally, last night, Ted the insurance broker.

Every morning she would come in, and every morning Sookie would corner her and grill her about the date. Then as soon as Lorelai admitted to it being less than stellar, Sookie would get that look in her eye. The sorrowful pitied look. So today, Lorelai snuck in and went straight to her office.

"Ah ha!" Sookie shouted, as she swung open the door and pointed a finger at Lorelai, who was just settling down behind her desk. "J'accuse!"

"Sookie-"

"Sneaking in, trying to avoid me!"

"No Sook-"

"Puh-leeeeeeeeeease!" Sookie came in and sat in the chair across from Lorelai. "Now, tell me everything."

"It was fine."

"Shocker, another fine."

"It was fine, it was fine, what more do you want."

"I know what you're doing." Sookie looked at her with a stern frown and interlocked her fingers on her lap.

"What I'm doing?"

"All these dates you've been going on. I know what you're doing."

"I'm dating." She tried to look busy as she focused on sorting the mail.

"You're trying to get over this inadequate feeling you've had since the night with Luke."

"What?" Lorelai tried to look busy on the computer.

"You're trying to feel pretty again."

"Sook-"

"No Lorelai, you listen to me." Sookie stood, placed both hands on the table and leaned towards Lorelai who was carefully ignoring her. "Whatever it was that happened to Luke was nothing to do with you. You're beautiful, smart, funny and amazing. Luke not being able to perform was all about Luke and had nothing to do with you. I can promise you that."

"Sookie, I'm just…" the wind went out of her argument and Sookie quickly circled the table to take her into a hug.

"You're beautiful," Sookie whispered. "You're amazing. You're stunning. And Luke is an idiot."

Lorelai chuckled and Sookie held her tighter. Sookie kissed the top of her head and released her. She promised to bring by some pastries later and left. Lorelai slumped back in her chair and thought about what Sookie had said.

She was going out more than usual. Hell, she admitted, she had gone out more this week than she had in the past year. Two years maybe. But none of the dates were great. None were horrible either, but they were just...bland. No sparks. No breathlessness. No heart palpitations. No tingles or goosebumps, nervous laughs or shy glances. She tried to flirt, tried to get the spark ignited but nothing was working. After the meal, after a short walk, after a kiss she would pull away, smile politely and end the date.

Was Sookie right? Was she doing this to prove to herself that what happened with Luke was an anomaly? Was what happened with Luke an anomaly? It wasn't the first time the sex was bad. It was however, the first time neither participant had finished. Other than the coitus interruptus events when she was younger. She chuckled at the memory of herself and Chris scrambling to dress and pose in studius ways before her mother walked in.

But the chuckle faded and she sighed. She missed Luke. Missed hanging out at the diner. Missed drinking his coffee and annoying him with a bit. Getting him worked up enough to see that vein in his forehead pop up. She smiled at the many memories of that happening but all too quickly, her smile faded. She took a deep breath, resettled herself on the seat and tried to focus on her work.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Luke did the rounds with the coffee. The same people, ordering the same food. The same conversation being shared by the same customers. He came back around the counter and started a new batch of coffee then faced the customers again as he idly wiped the counter down.

Kirk sat with a paper in the corner, nursing a milkshake he had ordered over an hour ago. Babette was by the door, drinking coffee and waiting for Ms Patty who was sure to arrive any minute for their usual evening meal. Every thursday without fail they would meet here for dinner and on one hand Luke though this routine was boring and predictable, but on the other he craved that kind of stability.

He looked over at the stool where Lorelai usually sat at this time of the evening and wondered if anyone even noticed she hadn't been in the diner for over two weeks. He wondered if anyone knew that he kissed her. Stripped her. Felt her warm soft body against his. Then proceeded to humiliate himself in the most unforgivable way. Luke rested his hands on the counter and bowed his head in thought.

He'd seen her in Casey's last week. And he thought he caught a glimpse of her coming out of Doosey's a few days ago but other than that, his life was sorely lacking the Gilmores. And he hated it.

"Hey sugah," Babette called at him. "Any chance of a refill?"

"Coming up now Babette." He grabbed the pot of fresh coffee and walked over to her. "You ready to eat yet?"

"Almost, Patty will be here soon. She had a late dance class, but that's finishing up now, see?"

Luke looked across the square to the dance hall and saw a stream of young kids in ballerina outfits pouring out. Followed by Patty who was hurrying over. Luke put the pot down and grabbed the pad from the front of his pants.

"So what can I get you?" he asked Babbette who was no longer looking at the menu.

"Yeah, I'll have a turkey club. With fries."

"Ok, I'll be back when Patty is in."

He looked up to see how close Patty had gotten, but instead of seeing her trying to cross the road to the diner, she was standing on the path, talking with Lorelai. Luke froze. Patty had linked Lorelai's arm and seemed to be guiding her towards the diner. Lorelai seemed to be resisting, she was pointing across the square in the opposite direction and Luke realised it was towards Rory's bus stop. They were smiling and laughing and by the expression on Patty's face, he knew she was talking about the dates Lorelai had been going on all week.

Yeah, he knew about them. He'd seen her on one and saw her being driven home from a few others. He heard chatter in his diner and tried desperately to ignore it, but it always found its way to his ears. He watched as Lorelai patted her arm and slowly extracted her elbow from Ms Patty's grip, waved and smiled, then hurried across the square to the bus stop.

Ms Patty came bustling into the diner and took seat beside Babbette. "Oh Luke, I'll have a coffee."

"Hmm?"

"A coffee please, and I'll have a turkey club, with fries."

"Oh that's exactly what I ordered!" Babbette squealed with delight and grabbed her friends arm.

"Coffee, right," Luke said. He picked up the pot and poured her out a cup. "Are you eating tonight?"

"You didn't hear?"

"Huh?"

"I already asked for a turkey club, with fries."

"Right, yeah, sorry."

"You ok Luke?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'll go get your orders."

They watched Luke hurry back to the kitchen. "You think he knows?" Babbette asked quietly, though her whispering voice was still a few octaves higher than regular people's normal speaking voice

"He must do, it's been hard to miss."

"She's been out with a different man every night this week." She sipped her coffee. "I've not had a chance to grab her for a chat all week."

"That's a lot of dinners."

"That's a lot of other things too." Babette said with a conspiratorial tone.

"Did you see the guy she went out with last night? Yowsers!" Patty waggled her eyebrows.

"I didn't see him, but the guy who picked her up on Sunday was a dish!"

"Monday in the gazebo, I saw her having an ice-cream with a guy and they seemed to be getting on very well."

"How well?"

"Well enough to make me blush!" Both women giggled then Babbette caught a glimpse of Luke working in the kitchen and nudged Patty to take a look. "It's a shame neither of them got the moxy to work on each other."

"It wouldn't take much moxy to get me to work on him." Ms Patty said with a nudge as she leaned over to get a better view of Luke.

"He's been incredibly grumpy lately. More than usual I think."

"Maybe he did get the moxy, and she turned him down."

"Please, she would not turn down Luke," Babette gestured to where Luke was bending over one of the tables to wipe it down. "Who would turn down that?"

"Then maybe she didn't turn him down and they went out but it was terrible."

"That's even worse!"

They both sat in silence for a few moments and watched as Luke worked the room then looked back at each other with smiles and shook their heads. "Nah!" they both said in unison then giggled.

Luke went back to the kitchen to pick up their orders and dropped them off at their tables.

"Refills?"

"Please." He grabbed the pot from behind the counter and came back to refill their coffee.

"So Luke," Ms Patty said as she leaned forward on the table. "What's goin' on between you and Lorelai?"

"Huh? What? Nothing. Why? What did you hear?"

"Nothing honey, we didn't hear nothing!" Babetter assured him.

"Why?" Patty pressed. "Is there something to hear?"

"No, nothing to hear." His voice was stern and he quickly turned on his heel and disappeared into the kitchen.

Both women looked at each other with a confused expression. "Curiouser and curiouser!" Patty said as she picked up a few fries, dipped them in ketchup and ate them.

Luke stood in the kitchen and leaned back against the wall. He had heard every word they shared, he always did but usually was able to ignore most of it. This time, each syllable was crystal clear and burrowed it's way into his head where it bounced around every nook and cranny, echoing painfully.

"Caesar, you got this?"

"Sure thing boss."

Luke waved then tossed the towel that was hanging over his shoulder onto the counter then check for his keys in his pocket and hurried out of the diner.

It had already been 6 days since the mediation. So any day now, he was expecting the report. Once he had that report in his hand he would be able to get his life back on track. What that meant exactly, he didn't really know but he knew he would be ready to work on it.

* * *

"Hey, hey, Lorelai, are you going to the firelight festival on Sunday?"

Lorelai stopped her run across the square and turned to Taylor who was calling at her from the gazebo.

"Sunday? Isn't it usually on a Friday?"

"Yes, but this year we've pushed it to a Sunday as we're painting the gazebo and it won't be fully dry by Friday."

"Right, of course." Lorelai waved at him and started to continue on her journey.

"So are you coming?"

"Yeah sure, we'll be there."

"We? You're bringing a date?"

"What?" she turned to face him. "No! I meant Rory."

"Oh right, it's just that…" Taylor looked away sheepishly.

"It's just that what?" Lorelai walked closer to him, hoping it would stop the whole town hearing this particular conversation.

"Well you've been rather um...busy lately, I was just checking if I should put you down for a +1."

"For the firelight festival? Since when has it been a limited entry type of event?"

"I'm just trying to get an idea of the number of attendees, for the food stalls. Last year there was so much waste."

"How altruistic of you Taylor."

"So it will just be you and Rory?"

"Yes, Taylor," Lorelai said sweetly, forcing a smile across her face. "Just myself and Rory, so double up on corn dogs." She turned again and sauntered away, trying not to show how angry and embarrassed she was feeling.

What the hell was up with this town? Why were they so obsessed with who she was dating, or not dating as the case may be. She had heard the comments from Patty and Babette, casually dropping Luke's name into the conversation, diving for information on why she hadn't been in the diner in a while, what fight had kicked off the most recent spate of absence from her second home. Or in Miss Patty's case, outright asking what had happened between her and Luke.

So far Lorelai had been able to avoid any direct responses, stating she was busy at work, busy with Rory and nothing had happened. Nothing _had_ happened, she scoffed to herself as she crossed the road over to Patty's dance studio. If something had happened then maybe they would still be able to look each other in the eye. Still be able to chat and laugh… kiss.

Wait.

She paused at the curb, one foot on the raised platform, the other still on the road. If it wasn't such a crappy...event, if it went well, would they still be...doing it? Or was he just looking for a one time thing? Lorelai frowned. No, Luke wasn't a one time thing kind of guy. Was he? She didn't actually know that for sure. In all the years she'd known Luke and hung out in the diner she had never seen any women walking out of his apartment that he wasn't either related to or in a long term relationship with. He didn't strike her as a one time thing guy.

Something was up with him that evening. But she was damned if she was going to ask him about it. Hell, she couldn't even look him in the eye let alone ask him about what was bothering him. Lorelai shuddered out of her reverie and continued on her way to the dance studio.

"Hey Rory, are you ready to go yet?"

"Yeah, I just need to…" Rory was helping Ms Patty in an afterschool dance club. Despite her lack of dance talent, she agreed to help out watching the younger kids. When Lorelai came to the door to meet her she grabbed her jacket and hurried out to meet her mother. "Dinner?"

"You're still hungry?" Lorelai linked arms with Rory and steered her towards home. "I thought you had pizza at the club?"

"That was hours ago?"

Lorelai cast her a disbelieving look. "It was 45 minutes ago. Remember? I was on the phone with you when it arrived?"

"I only got one slice!" Rory protested. "The other kids were so hungry."

"Okay fine, we can get something when we get home."

"But I really want a Luke's burger and chili fries."

"No, we should get home, it looks like it's going to rain soon." Lorelai looked up at the clear blue skies.

Rory glanced at her. "Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"What's going on with you and Luke? Did you guys have a fight?"

"A Fight? No."

"What's happened then, why don't you ever want to go into Luke's anymore?"

"Nothing happened." Lorelai pulled her daughter into a tight hug, but continued to steer her towards home. "I just need to give him some space."

"Space?" Rory looked at her mother with a worried glance. "Why?"

"He's very busy, and very stressed. And he needs the space to work on his stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Rory please, drop it."

There was a few moments of silence as they both continued walking home.

"Mom?"

"Yes honey?"

"Do I need to give him space too?"

"No, honey, no. You can go see Luke whenever you want."

She led Rory into the house and immediately grabbed the phone and chinese take out menu from the small table in the hall. She sat next to Rory on the couch and passed her the menu.

"What about we do a mix of pork and chicken dishes tonight?"

"Sure mom, that sounds fine."

Lorelai dropped the phone and looked at her daughter. She was clearly upset by their discussion on the way home. Luke was a big part of their lives, it wasn't as easy as just stopping her attendance in the diner. There were bigger things at stake here. "Rory…" Rory looked up and offered her a sad smile.

"I hate it when you and Luke fight."

"We're not fighting."

"Well you're not not fighting."

"We're just...taking a break from each other."

"It's not like you guys were dating." Rory glanced at her mother to see her expression and she caught the tiny wince. "Were you? Dating I mean?"

"No!"

"Did you want to be?" Lorelai couldn't help the small blush that crept up her neck. "Mom! Did you ask him out or something? Did he turn you down?"

"No. God! Why does everyone think he would turn me down! I didn't ask him out, he didn't ask me out."

"Did you want him to ask you out and he didn't?"

"No, really Rory. It's not like that. It's just… we need a break."

Rory watched her mother carefully for a while then decided to let it go. "Okay, you get the pork, I'll order chicken."

"Vegetable rolls for starter?"

"Yep."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Mini chapter update before I lose wifi for the move.

* * *

Friday morning in the diner felt quieter than usual. Though, if Luke was honest with himself, every morning without Lorelai and Rory in the diner was quieter than usual. He wiped down a recently vacated table and placed new cups and cutlery, ready for the next customer.

Back behind the counter he started a fresh pot of coffee and leaned back with his arms crossed over his chest to wait for it to brew. He spotted Lorelai's jeep over the square, the damned thing was always so easy to spot, and watched as Rory hopped out, leaned in to kiss her mother goodbye then waved as she drove off.

Then, much to Luke's surprise, instead of taking her usual seat at the bus stop, she turned and practically marched toward the diner. His first instinct was to run. Hide. Get away from her, but he stood frozen, almost willing her to get there faster, and do or say whatever it was she was gearing herself up for.

The bells chimed over the door and Rory seemed to falter. Luke grabbed a to-go cup and poured her a drink.

"Coffee?" he offered, as if it were an olive branch.

"Without the lecture?" she said with a smile, as she dropped her school bag at her feet and slid onto a stool at the end of the counter.

"One time offer." Rory accepted the coffee and sipped it slowly, basking in the familiar aroma and flavour. "You eating?" He looked up at the clock. "You're bus will be along any minute."

"That's ok, I'm taking a later bus."

"So you're eating?"

"Jack omelette with bacon."

"Coming right up."

Partially wanting to prepare her food himself, and partially wanting to be away from her studious gaze, Luke went into the kitchen. When he returned with her food she had shed her blazer and was reading a large book.

"Here you go."

"Thanks Luke." She smiled at him with such genuine warmth that it made his heart ache. "So," she said when she noticed he was inching away. "How's tricks?"

"Tricks?"

"Business. How's business?"

"Good." He eyed her shrewdly, wondering what she was getting at.

"The diner seems quiet today?"

"We had bigger crowd earlier. Everyone is gone out to work on the firelight festival stuff already."

"Ah I see." She continued to eat her omelette. "So work is good huh? How is life then outside of work?"

"Good."

"Hmmm."

"Hmmm?" he repeated back at her with a questioning look.

"Oh I was just checking in. Ya know. You took that fishing trip a few weeks ago, That's not something you usually do."

"I needed the break."

"Break? From what?"

Luke stepped in front of her and placed his hands on the counter. He leaned in closer to speak only to her. "Did your mother send you in here?"

Rory leaned back a little. She wasn't sure she had ever seen Luke look angry. Ranting yet, but not genuinely angry. "No. She did not."

"Because if she really wants to know how I'm doing, she can come in herself." Luke heard his voice, heard the words but felt panicked even at the thought of her coming in to the diner.

"Can she?" Rory challenged. Luke was taken aback by her ferocity and leaned back a little himself.

"Of course she can."

"Well she doesn't think she can."

"Why? What has she said to you?"

"Nothing. She said you just needed some space. That you were stressed and she thought it was best if she stayed away." Luke fidgeted with the cups below the counter, arranging and rearranging them needlessly, avoiding Rory's eyes. "So...is that true?"

"Yeah."

"So you guys had a fight?" Rory said with a sigh.

"No, not a fight."

"So why the sudden need for space?"

"Rory-"

"What is it Luke, what is it that is suddenly so stressful in your life that means you and my mother can no longer be friends?"

Luke paused. He wanted to say something, but this was the wrong Gilmore to argue with. He felt his shoulders sag a little and he leaned back against the counter behind him. "Nothing." Luke watched as she put her fork on her now empty plate. Fished out a few notes and tossed them onto the counter beside it then slid off the chair and grabbed her Chilton blazer and her school bag.

"Well whatever it is that you guys are fighting about…"

"We're not fighting."

"I just hope you guys aren't too old before you realise how silly all this is," she said ignoring his protest.

Rory turned, hurried out of the diner and left Luke in her wake, confused and frustrated. When the phone rang on the wall behind him he snatched the receiver off the wall.

"Luke's," he barked into the phone, keeping his eyes on Rory's retreat. "No we're not delivering today, too many road closures for the festival...I don't care if Al's is delivering. We're not...so go order from Al's then...What?...You know what, give me your address and I'll come right around and show you what you can do with the...Hello? Hello?!"

Luke put the phone back onto the hook and looked out the window to see if he could still see Rory but all he saw was the bus retreating. "Dammit."

The bells over the door chimed again and he saw Kirk approaching. He was wearing his postal service uniform and Luke felt his gut tighten.

"Morning Luke," he said as he approached the counter and rifled through the envelopes in his large shoulder bag.

"What have you got for me?" Luke leaned on the counter, both hands flat on the smooth surface to stop himself from snatching the bag himself.

"I know I saw something for you in here…"

"Kirk."

"It was a big thick envelope…"

"Kirk!"

"I looked super official."

"Kirk, for the love of god, if you don't-"

"Ah, here it is." He pulled a large A4 envelope out of the bag. "It's from Wilson Jones and associates." he said as he read the sender info from the top corner. "Divorce papers Luke? Perhaps a will? A court appearance?"

"Kirk, give me the envelope."

"DId you inherit something valuable?"

"Kirk, if I have to come around this counter to get that envelope, I'm going to be reaching down your throat to grab it

Kirk stared at Luke for a beat then dropped the envelope onto the counter and hurried away. Luke waited until the door was shut behind him to look down at the envelope. Sure enough, embossed on the top left corner of the envelope was the mediator company's name and address. Luke picked it up slowly and turned it over to the seal. He slipped his finger in one side and started to rip it open but with every inch it tore, his heart twisted.

What if he had to give Liz half his diner? What if he had to sell? What if...shit, what if he lost everything? Though it was a picture of Lorelai that popped in his heat at that moment.

He looked down at the torn envelope and his heart pushed it's way up to his throat as his fingers fumbled for the pages inside. "Dammit, come on…" He yanked them out and took a minute before turning them round and reading the letter quickly.

"Finds against the plaintiff... wait, am I the plaintiff?" he muttered to himself then continued to read. "Luke Danes retains full ownership." He read that line over and over and each time he did his heard calmed down and went back to its regular position. "Full ownership...Yes!" he shouted punching both arms high into the air.

But as quick as his elation soared, it plummeted, as he thought about his sister. He picked up the phone and quickly dialled her number.

"Hello?" came her timid greeting.

"Liz, it's me."

"Luke!" was all she got out. Luke heard a scuffle, and the next voice he heard was not his sister.

"Please don't call here."

"Listen here you, put Liz back on the phone."

"We've still got an open mediation so you should not be calling here."

"I'm not calling about that, put Liz back on the phone."

"Please contact her through her lawyer."

"Who's that?" Luke spat through gritted teeth. "You?"

"Yeah, and I said she is not coming to the phone."

Before Luke could say anything else, the phone was slammed down. Luke stared at the receiver for a few minutes more and felt all his relief abolished in place of a fiery hot fury. He paced the diner for a few rounds then slammed his hands flat on the counter and bent his head so his chin was on his chest.

He took a few deep breaths, tried to calm himself down and only then did he realise this was exactly the position he was in when Lorelai came into the diner a few weeks ago. He whipped around as if he expected her to come in but his doorway was empty. He tried to ignore the pang of disappointment and stood away from the counter that was holding him up. He looked around the empty diner and suddenly he needed to be out of here. He went to the door, flipped the sign to closed then went out to his truck and drove off.

* * *

By the time Sunday arrived, Lorelai was so sick of dates, small talk, dinners out and goodbye kisses that she was walking with purpose towards the founders punch. She dropped a five dollar bill on the counter in front of Ms Patty.

"It's only a dollar a cup honey!" Patty said as she started to reach for the change.

Lorelai picked up one cup and drained it. Then picked up two more. "I'll be back for the rest."

She walked away with both cups and found a bench where she could get a good view of the fire, the gazebo the stage, the crowd. Everything in view. And what needed to be behind her was behind her, out of view.

She sipped her drink and spotted Sookie moving through the crowd with Jackson. She waved and smiled and Sookie said something to Jackson before weaving her way through the crowd to sit next to her.

"Here," Lorelai said and handed her one of her drinks.

"Oh! Punch!" Sookie giggled and sipped the lethal concoction. "Oh...strong!"

"Yeah," Lorelai said and she took a large gulp of her own drink.

"So…"

"Before you ask, it was fine." Lorelai sipped her drink. "He was perfectly pleasant, We talked about movies most of the time, we had a drink, and some appetisers, he walked me home, we had a kiss and then he left."

"Patented Gilmore first date," Sookie said, somewhat under her breath but loud enough to be sure Lorelai heard it.

"Patented?"

"Well it's been date after date after date-"

"Sookie!" Lorelai elbowed her friend. "You make me sound like a call girl."

"Oh honey, that's not what I mean." Sookie leaned against her friend. "You go on all the dates you want, you meet all the men you want, share all the kisses you want. You're a beautiful smart, hilarious single woman. Why wouldn't you go on all these dates."

"So why the snide comments?"

"Because you're not going on these dates because you want to, you're going on them to prove something."

"Prove what?"

"Prove to Luke that you're desirable."

"I'm not trying to prove anything." Lorelai sipped her drink and watched the crowd. "I'm just trying to…"

"To?" Sookie urged as Lorelais voice faded away.

"to...I dunno Sookie, I'm just trying to not think about him."

Sookie draped an arm over her shoulder, pulled her into a tight hug and kissed the side of her head. She sat like that for a few minutes more and would have stayed like that for longer until Jackson came running over in a tizzy.

"Sookie, Sookie! The pumpkins! The pumpkins!"

"What?"

"The pumpkins Sookie, quick!" He urged her to follow and hurried off.

Sookie and Lorelai looked at each other in confusion. "I better go, either something terrible is happening to the pumpkins, or something wonderful, I'm not sure which is worse." Se gave Lorelai one more hug then hurried away after Jackson.

Lorelai settled back into the bench and sipped the last of her punch then reached over for the remains of Sookie's cup. She watched the towns people wander around the square, laughing, singing, dancing, cuddling by the fire and queueing for more punch. She watched Rory and Lane sitting on the edge of the gazebo huddled and sharing secrets that made them both laugh and she couldn't help but smile.

Then she saw Luke. He was over by the bbq pit, a long neck bottle of beer dangling from one hand, the other buried in the back pocket of his jeans. He was smiling at something Tom was saying and that smile made her anger bubble up from where she had pushed it down, buried deep deep below her surface. Laughing? He was laughing? Was he not feeling that same hot shame she was living with? That thought made her angry. She found her eyes fixed on him no matter where he moved.

Luke noticed her the minute she arrived. How could he not. That red low cut top and flowing knee high skirt. It would be impossible not to notice her. He watched her march across the square to get a drink. He stared at her as she downed the first drink while still standing at the table, and his mouth fell open when she grabbed two more and walked away. He tried not to watch as she sat on the bench with Sookie. The hug they shared made his heart ache and he wanted to run over and grab her in his own comforting hug, but he figured his hug would not be too welcome.

He tried to look away when Sookie hurried off but he watched her from the corner on his eye. He focused on what Tom was saying and laughed, though he was sure Tom thought he was crazy for laughing at the bbq basting. He finished his beer and excused himself to go find another. Behind the gazebo he found Kirk guarding a large metal tub filled with ice and beer.

"Hey Kirk. Can I get a beer?"

"Sure Luke." He reached down and grabbed a bottle. "You got ID?" he asked when he stood up.

"Kirk."

"No glove, no love."

"What?"

"Well I was trying to come up with a catchy way of saying no ID no beer, but that doesn't rhyme, and I couldn't think of a good word to rhyme with beer, or ale, stout, alcohol."

"So you went with…"

"No glove, no love."

"You're an idiot. Give me a beer."

"No glove-"

"Kirk, so help me if you finish that sentence…"

Kirk noticed Luke clench his fist at his side and stepped back from the tub. "Sure Luke, take a beer, on the house."

Luke bent over and snatched a bottle from the tub. He twisted off the cap and dropped it back in then fished a couple of dollars from his pocket and pressed them into Kirks hand.

"Thanks." He was already drinking the beer when he walked away.

God dammit he felt his whole body tense up and he tried to breathe slowly to calm himself down. Without even thinking about it, his eyes sought her out but the bench she was sitting on was now empty. He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a long drink.

What was he even doing here? He only ever came to these town events to see or hangout with Lorelai. Though truth be known, that's exactly why he came tonight. He knew Lorelai would be here. He wasn't sure what he would do about it, he wasn't even sure what he wanted to do about it, but he knew she would be here and so he was too.

He circled the gazebo, his eyes bouncing from group to group to try and find her but he couldn't find her. No glimpse of the red top she was wearing, no curls, deep red lips smiling or shining blue eyes sparkling. Nothing. He finished the beer and tossed the bottle into a trash can then patted his pockets to locate his keys and started on his way back towards the diner.

The crowd seemed to be thicker now, as the fire was at its peak and the drink was flowing. One group was line dancing by the gazebo and another was singing sea shanties by the fire. Luke weaved his way through the group, navigating around the dancers and tried to avoid their unpredicted movements but every time he moved one direction they moved that way too. When he shuffled back they danced in front of him. He was just short of barging through when the group twirled and spun around him then parted and he found Lorelai planted against his chest, again.

"Oh!" She looked up at him and her fingers instinctively gripped the lapels of his shirt tighter.

"Sorry," he muttered, his hands instinctively gripping her upper arms .

Lorelai felt her jaw drop open. Sorry? He said sorry? Sorry! He was sorry? Her mind exploded with the possibilities of what it was he could be sorry for and every single one of them warranted an apology. But in the nanosecond it took for those thoughts to form, his hands loosened on her and she started to feel them move away.

"Having a good time?" she blurted out, and she winced at the slight slurring she heard in her own voice.

"Yeah, sure." he muttered, his hands slowly sliding down her arms. "It's the best crazy town event we have."

"Yeah, it's right up there."

He stared down at her, his eyes flitting from her eyes to her lips, back and forth, back and forth, all the while his hands moved past her elbows, down her arms to her wrists.

"Um…" He glanced down at his hands, his fingers encircling her small wrists. "We should talk." he said at the same time as she spoke.

"See you around."

"Oh...you're leaving?" He dropped her hands and shoved his in the back pockets of his jeans.

"I thought you were" she said and tossed a thumb over her shoulder. "Going back to the diner?"

"Yeah, um I was about to."

"Okay, well, good night." She looked away, turned to face the dancing crowd and waited for the large mass of humiliation beside her to leave, but he didn't move.

"Lorelai…" he turned to face her and grabbed her elbow. "Can we talk?"

"Talk?" Slowly she turned to face him. "You want to talk?"

"Yeah, can we go back to the diner, talk, in private."

Lorelai looked at him. For the first time since she ran from his apartment she really looked at him. His eyes were red, it looked like he hadn't slept in a while. He had definitely lost weight and the frown that always divided his eyebrows was deeper than usual.

"Talk, yeah sure. Let me just go tell Rory where I'll be."

"Okay, see you over there? I'll make coffee."

Lorelai nodded. She crossed her arms over her chest and watched as he hurried away. She waited until the diner door closed behind him before making her way over to where Rory and Lane were sitting sipping cokes.

"I'm going to Luke's for a few minutes."

"Oh you guys made up?"

"We're just going to have a chat. I'll meet you at home?"

"Yeah, I'm going to stay here with Lane a little longer, but she has to go home for a prayer meeting at nine, so I'll go home then."

"Great, you order the pizza and I'll see you at home."

"Ok."

"Hey, did you see Sookie anywhere?"

"A little while ago," Rory pointed off towards where Sookie lived. "Jackson was pulling her home, shouting about pumpkins."

"That's some weird vegetable role play stuff."

"Ew mom!" Rory pushed her mother away and Lane giggled beside her. "Go, go make up with Luke so we can go back to having burgers for dinner."

Lorelai smiled and waved then turned to walk to the diner. Ten minutes ago she felt the liquid fire from the founders punch sloshing around giving her the courage to have fun but now it had all pooled around her toes and refused to help her out in the longest journey she'd ever taken over the square to the diner. Each step taking her closer but it never felt so far away.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Mid move update! No TV and no internet means you get an update. ( _Uploaded on my phone, pardon the typos_ ) Also note the change in rating. Specifically needed for this chapter!

* * *

Lorelai could see him behind the counter, making coffee. Coffee she would drink. Coffee she was craving, she admitted with a snarl. Coffee she needed to stop the founders punch doing any more damage than it already had. Her head felt lighter than usual, her stomach was flipping back and forth seemingly going for a full 360 but the rapid expansion of her diaphragm as she tried to catch a breath, was stopping it from completing that full circle. She reached for the handle and it seems to slip out of her hand but she gripped it tighter and pushed the door open.

The chime over the door made her wince and she paused, waiting for his acknowledgement. .

"Come in, coffee is just about ready." he said over his shoulder, casting a mere glance in her direction before he

Again, the chime over the door rang out when she closed the door and she tried not to wince again but Luke noticed it. She crossed the room in a few strides and sat on the stool by the till. Luke grabbed a coffee mug and placed it in front of her then turned to grab the pot and filled the mug.

"Thanks." she lifted the cup and basked in the aroma for a moment before taking her first sip. That bitter warmth filled her with a familiar comforting feeling but as she opened her eyes and saw Luke watching her, it disappeared. "So…" she said as she focused on putting the mug back on the counter without spilling it.

He heard the words in his head, but he couldn't seem to get them out. His mouth opened and closed several times before he rubbed his hand over his face and circled the counter to sit next to her.

"You wanted to talk?" she said and she tried not to turn to look at him but it was as if a magnet pulled her round and she was suddenly looking straight at him, her knees between his thighs as he stretched out his legs around her to accommodate her.

"I um, yeah, wanted to talk…" his fingers trailed up and down his thighs as he nervously tried to think of what it was he was trying to say. No matter what words started to form, he lost his train of thought when he looked at her. Her lips, pursed in concern. Her eyes, slight frown, red rimmed, probably from the founders punch he could still smell off her breath. "Lorelai…"

She was about to reach out and touch his arm, but she managed to stop herself. Luke spotted the miniscule movement and then the pull back and he snapped. He grabbed her arm and pulled her closer then firmly pressed his lips against hers.

Lorelai froze.

This was eerily familiar and she thought she knew where this was going, or rather where it would end. When she tried to pull back, Luke circled his arms around her and pulled them both off the stools to stand. He tilted his head and deepened the kiss stroked her lips with his tongue until she opened them with a sigh, then he slowly explored her mouth as he tightened his arms around her crushing her breasts against his chest.

Lorelai was lost in the moment and basking in the soft warm kiss, but as his hand moved down the column of her back and curved over her ass to pull her against him she came to her senses. She pulled back, Pushed him away from her and held him at arm's length.

"What are you doing?" she said, cursing how breathy and wanton her voice sounded.

"I uh...kissing you." He scratched his neck beneath his bill cap.

"Well, we've been here before." She stepped back from him and towards the door. "And it didn't really pan out."

"No, Lorelai wait," he said as he reached for her, but she held her hands back and warned him off.

"You said you needed to talk."

"I did. I do!"

"That wasn't talking." She put the back of her fingers up to her lips. "There were lips involved, but it was not talking."

"Lorelai wait!" he took a step closer to her but she was now at the door, her back against it, one hand on the handle.

"No," She shook her head. "No, I'm not going through that again."

"Through what? Lorelai wait, let's talk, please."

"Talk?" She turned the handle behind her and started to pull the door open but Luke stepped forward and pushed it closed with a hand above her head.

"Talk." He stepped closed again, leaving only a hair's breadth between them.

She was struggling to breathe steadily and the heat coming off Luke in waves was making her dizzy. Or it was the blood in her body all swarming to one focal point. Or the fact that he was looking at her lips again. Her tongue came out to wet them and she watched his eyes darken. She opened her mouth to speak but before any sound came out, Luke crashed his lips against her and pushed her back against the door, forcing the blinds closed behind her. His tongue slipped past her lips and he stroked it slowly against hers as one hand moved to her hip and pulled her against him, then propelled her back against the door, his body flush against hers.

She heard herself screaming in her head, heard herself telling him to stop, even though her hands pulled him closer, her tongue lapped against his and she tilted her head give him better access. When his hand clutched her hip and pulled her against his, now obvious, arousal, she arched her back and thrust towards him with a sigh. All the thoughts to make him stop moved deeper and deeper into the recesses of her brain as she basked in his touch. His hands, his lips, his body, all on her, everywhere.

His lips moved off hers, across her jaw and suckled on a sensitive spot below her ear as one hand curved around her hip, over her ass to move her leg and pull it over his own hip so he could settle into place against her, and they both sighed. His hand moved up her thigh, moving her skirt aside as his hand lightly ran up over her silk pantihose and he all but melted when he realised they were thigh highs.

He pressed his arousal against her and his fingers curled into the hem of the tights. Without pausing he pushed her skirt higher and bunched it around her waist to look down and see what it was he was missing.

"Oh geez…" She was wearing a garter belt and thigh highs and had them clipped at the front and back. "You're trying to kill me."

"Well I didn't wear them for you…" She said, her voice a mere whisper.

"No? You have a hot date?" He challenged her, even as his body was pressed against her, his hips moving slowly to elicit a soft moan from her.

"I wore them for me." She spoke defiantly and looked into his eyes without wavering but instead of scaring him off, it made him want to kiss her again.

So he did.

His lips crushed hers. His hand curved around her ass and pulled her to him and his fingers curled around the slip of material she used as panties and started to pull them down, but was suddenly blocked by the garter belt clipped to her stockings. He frowned as he broke their kiss to look down at how to fix this obstacle.

"Luke…" she panted, but he was so focused on what he was doing that he didn't notice.

His fingers trace the edge of her stockings and found the back clips and with a swift flick he undid one then the other, then came to the front and did the same. He gripped her panties and pulled them right down until they were low enough to drop to her ankles on their own.

"We should-" she began but he cut her off.

"Wait, one sec…"

Before she knew what he was doing he dropped to his knees and quickly reconnected her stockings to the clips then lifted her legs, one by one, holding her calves and taking her panties off completely before he stood up again and crushed his lips against hers in a searing kiss, as he pulled her leg to nestle on his hip and pressed against her again.

"Wait, Luke, we should…" her fingers gripped his shoulders and held him in place as his lips moved lower along the trim of her low cut top to the curve of her breasts. "We should…" she tried again but his tongue slipped past the lace trim of her bra and she lost all train of thought.

"Now...here, now!" he said and his lips came back up to hers to kiss her again but before she could get lost in the sensation of his tongue caressing her he dropped to his knees again and ran his flat palms up her legs, lifted her skirt and exposed his destination.

Her hands now gripped his shoulders and he wasted no time in claiming his prize. The aroma from her arousal shot right to his cock and he moaned as he pressed his lips to her. Raw heat and desire emanated from her and he was surprised, and turned on, by how wet she was already. He planted one of his feet on the ground and gripped her ankle to place her foot on his thigh, giving him better access to kiss her where he really wanted to..

"Luke…" She panted as his tongue lapped against her then slipped past her folds as she parted for him with a soft moan. He lapped against her core in slow strokes until he found what he was aiming for. "Oh!" she uttered in surprise as if she didn't know this was where he was going all along. He suckled on her softly until he heard her gasp then pulled her clit deeper into his mouth and her hips jerked towards him. "Oh yeah, Luke."

He released her and tried desperately to ignore her moan of frustration as he moved his tongue lower to find her entrance. His hands gripped her ass and pulled her apart as he moved ever closer and thrust his tongue into her.

"Oh god," she panted and she gripped a fistful of hair to push him against her. She could feel her climax twisting into a tight coil with every lap of his tongue. She pushed her shoulders back against the door and her hips forward against him. She could hear her pants, her moans, her blood pumping in her ears, but all she could feel were his hands on her skin and his tongue moving inside her. When she thought she was going to scream, he dragged his tongue through her folds to seek out her clit again and sucked it past his lips and she felt the coil snap.

Luke pressed into her more when he felt her pulsating against him and held her in place until he felt her legs starting to quiver. He moved her foot off his thigh and stood up quickly, cupped her face with both hands and kissed her gruffly. Her breath was shallow and her hands gripped his waist weakly, but as his tongue moved slowly against hers and his hands moved down her shoulders, over her chest to knead her breasts she found the strength to move to the front of his jeans and undo the button.

His lips came off hers with a pop and he pulled back to look down as her hands pulled on his zipper. "Lorelai…"

She looked up at him and moved her lips to kiss him and tugged his jeans down over his hips. Luke needed no more encouragement. He squeezed her waist and lifted her up and with a little jump she easily moved to wrap her legs around his waist. With one hand on her ass to keep her high the other was guiding himself to her entrance.

This time when he slid into her and looked up at her face, it wasn boredom he saw, it was...desire? Her eyes were half closed, her teeth worried her bottom lip and a ghost of a frown pierced her forehead and deepened when he thrust further into her. Her hands gripped his shoulders and he pressed his face against her breasts as he moved slowly in and out of her scorching heat.

"Harder," she whispered and thrust her hips against him. WIthout breaking his stride Luke pushed against her harder and harder still until he was lost in her. Her perfume, her shampoo. Her arms that were not wrapped around his neck. He breasts that were crushed against him. Her hips spread wide and her legs wrapped around him, her ankles locked behind his back to prevent him to getting away too far. The silk from her skin and the soft material of her hose brushing against his waist would be enough to break him but this wasn't something he was in a rush to finish. Despite her inner walls stroking him, her soft breath puffing and panting, her lips against his ear, Luke held back until he could feel her starting to quiver around him again.

The bell over the door rang out with every thrust he pushed into her and he wanted to reach up to stop it but he was afraid of changing what was happening even for a second. He focused, instead, on her voice, whispering his name over and over against his ear. Her soft mewling sounds spurred him on and made him pump into her harder, faster. His hands pulled her apart for him, allowing him to bury himself just a little bit deeper and she moaned aloud as she broke apart. Luke felt her hot silk walls tighten and release around his cock as she came and he continued to move at a steady pace until she melted against him.

He moved one hand up her back to her shoulder and the other gripped her ass so he could hold her in place as he pumped into her, finally willing to chase his own release. She welcomed his vigour and matched him, thrust for thrust, moan for moan. Her fingers buried into his hair and scraped across his scalp sending quivers of desire through his body. Her lips brushed around the outer shell of his ear and her tongue traced the inner shell.

"Oh fuck," he muttered through gritted teeth as he felt his whole body start to shudder.

"Yes!" Lorelai encouraged as she felt her own body creeping into a soft release.

"No," Luke kept thrusting into her but he wanted this to last longer still. "I'm not…"

"Yes Luke," she whispered, her lips on his ear again. "Come for me, Luke."

His name on her lips as he pushed into her was finally more than he could handle and he felt his orgasm rip through him. He cried out, a guttural release as he emptied into her, his hips still moving even as he was spent. He slowed but didn't stop entirely and he listened to the soft ting of the bell as he pushed her against the door.

Eventually he stopped and started to pull away from her, but she tightened her grip around his neck and and waist, and held him in place. She wasn't quite ready to let him go yet. The rasp of his crotch against hers, the pulsating heat from his cock that was still buried deep inside her. She never wanted to let him go. She wasn't sure if she did, that she would ever get him back. But as his arms started to shake she realised he would not be able to hold her here forever. She loosened her grip on his neck and leaned back as he started to pull away.

He slipped out of her and they both sighed at the sensation, the sudden pang of loss they both experienced was palpable. Luke gently lowered her to her feet and held her in place for a moment more before stepping back a little further, as much as his legs could with his jeans and boxers wrapped around his ankles.

Lorelai smoothed down her skirt and fixed her top, her eyes fixed on her hands, to stop herself from looking up at him. She wasn't sure she could bring herself to look at him for fear of what she might see.

Luke bent and pulled his pants up and quickly fastened them, shucking the heavy denim material to reseat himself and quickly tucked in his tee at the front, more for something to do, thank for comfort. Then he spotted the bright red panties he'd taken off her. He swiftly bent and picked them up then turned to her and held them out to her, dangling them from a couple of fingers. Lorelai saw the red flash of material and snatched them off his hand, sure that her cheeks bore that same shade.

"That wasn't what I meant to do when I asked you to come to the diner." His words stung. Lorelai felt her blush fade and all her blood flow directly south. "Lorelai?" he said, noting her change.

"So you wanted to talk?" she said as she stuffed the panties into her pocket. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!

"Yeah, well, I…" he stepped back and slid on hand into his back pocket as the other scratched his neck behind his cap.

"Hmm?"

"I wanted to…" he paused when he saw her face. Where he expected to see her smile he saw a thin strip of her lips. Her eyes avoided his and a deep frown bisected them. "Lorelai?"

"I need to get home, Rory will be waiting for me by now." Her hand grabbed the door behind her and she started to pull it open.

"Lorelai, wait!" He grasped her wrist and pulled her back to face him.

She turned to look at him, her eyebrows arched as she waited for him to say something but again the words were lost on his lips.

"See ya around, Luke."

She pulled the door open and disappeared before he could say another word and the chime of the bell announcing her departure.

Luke watched her cross the square for as long as he could, then turned around and banged his fists off the hard surface of the table in the centre of the room.

* * *

Lorelai made it home, breathless.

She closed the door behind her and sagged against it. What the hell. WHAT THE HELL!

She wanted to scream and bash her fists against the wall. He wanted to bash her fists against his chest. His firm, broad, warm, chest. That felt wonderful under her hands, even with the barrier of his flannel armour and cotton undershirt. His strong shoulders, thick arms, his thrusting hips and long, hard-

"Mom!" Rory called out from the couch. Lorelai spun around and saw Rory kneeling up on the couch waving her arms. "What's goin on?"

"Sorry honey, I was just catching my breath." Lorelai came into the room and started for the stairs.

"Did you run home?"

"Yeah, needed to work off that punch. Did you order the pizza?"

"Yeah, should be here soon."

"Okay, I'm going to grab a shower. Don't start without me."

"Hurry."

Lorelai raced upstairs and started to strip as soon as she got past her bedroom door. She dropped all her clothing in a pile by the laundry basket then went into the bathroom and switched on the shower. Without waiting for the water to warm up she got under the powerful spray and closed her eyes. She could feel his hands on her thighs, his lips on her neck and despite the cold water she felt her body warming at the thoughts of him, and it made her angry.

This was the polar opposite of how she had felt the last time she had run from his place. But somehow she still felt...angry? Sad? Scared? Some combination of all three? Lorelai ran her fingers through her hair and dipped her head under the water. He was hungry for her. He wanted her badly, about as much as she wanted him she guessed. His hands gripped her ass and she could feel it now as she turned her back to the water.

A wash of desire coursed through her and she couldn't help the moan that escaped past her lips. She tried to ignore it then she remembered the feeling of his tongue caressing her core and another wave of hot wanton desire engulfed her.

"Dammit," she heard herself mutter even as her hand moved down to nestle between her legs and matched what she remembered his tongue doing earlier. There was no finesse in this. Just pure need. She needed to be rid of these desires. She needed to move past this phase and onto whatever world she ended up in next. A world where she wouldn't feel an uncontrollable need to scratch her nails softly against the underside of Luke's chin. Or tug his tee out from his jeans to trace her fingers through the trail of hair that dusted his stomach. Or feel him shudder against her when she lightly brushed his ear with her tongue.

She felt her need building and she massaged herself furiously to finish this, and finish it quickly. Finally, she came but she felt no solace in this release, only further frustration.

"Dammit."

See finished the shower quickly and grabbed a pair of shorts and a tee then hurried down to see Rory paying for pizza.

"Got the usual."

"Everything with extra everything?"

"Hold the olives."

Lorelai jumped onto the edge of the couch as Rory dropped the box onto the coffee table then hurried out to the kitchen.

"Coke?" She called from the kitchen

"Yeah!"

By the time Rory was jumping onto the couch beside her Lorelai already had a slice in her hand. Rory talked about the festival and filled her in on the story of Taylor and Ms Patty dancing, or rather Ms Patty dancing and dragging Taylor across the dance floor much to the delight of Babette, and everyone else. She talked about how Ms Kim came by to collect Lane and gave out to Kirk for playing music that was too provocative, though the music that was playing was Steely Dan. Through all this story telling Lorelai nodded and smiled in all the right places, but there was no reciprocation on the conversation.

Rory noticed how quiet her mother was being but continued to babble. She picked out a show she knew she would enjoy and ran into the kitchen to grab some ice cream before it started. She talked and commented throughout the entire movie but as the final credits rolled Rory had had enough. She turned off the TV, sat cross legged on the couch facing her mother and clapped her hands to get her attention, when calling her had no effect.

"Huh?"

"What is up with you tonight?"

"What? Sorry, I'm just tired."

"Tired? You barely ate one slice of pizza, and you didn't even look at the ice cream." Rory gestured at the tv. "And we just watched the chocolate factory episode of I love Lucy and you didn't once stuff your face with candy."

"Sorry sweetie-"

"Whats going on with you?"

"I'm just tired."

"Did Luke say something to you to make you like this?"

"What? No!"

"Well you were fine at the firelight festival but then you went to Luke's to talk." Rory waited to see her mother's reaction. "So what did he say?"

"Nothing, we just chatted and then I came home."

"I don't believe you."

"Sweetie. I'm fine. I'm tired." Lorelai leaned over and kissed her daughters forehead. "I'm going to go to bed."

Rory watched as Lorelai stood and went upstairs frowning, as even her footfall on the steps sounded sad.


	9. Chapter 9

Luke lay in bed, his hands were interlocked behind his head, his legs splayed out over the blankets and he enjoyed the cool breeze from the open window over his overheated skin. He had been thinking about Lorelai all night making his cock stand to attention from the minute he lay on the bed and imagined her lying next to him. He had managed to ignore his erection for most of the night, but as the first rays of sun started to peek through the blinds, he let his hand reach down to grab himself, but after a few unsatisfying strokes he abandoned that notion and instead just lay back and tried to stay calm.

Caesar was opening so he was in no rush to go down to the diner. He lay in bed replaying over and over, his encounter with Lorelai. Her moans, her pants, her fingers digging into his shoulders, her nails scraping along his scalp, her hips pushing forward as he thrust into her. Luke felt his cock twitch but tired to ignore it.

She had run out of the diner faster than he had seen her run before. Faster than even the last time she had run away from him. He knew she had enjoyed it. He knew she had enjoyed it at least twice, possibly a third time though he was pretty occupied by then with his own enjoyment so he wasn't too sure. This time her face showed him exactly what he was looking for. Her eyes were dark but shimmering with desire and they fluttered closed when his cock brushed her entrance. Her lips parted when he pushed in further and she moaned when he was buried deep within her. Luke could hear that moan now and he was sure that moan would be bouncing around his head for evermore.

His cock strained and twitched against his stomach and Luke couldn't help the moan that pushed past his lips. The silk skin of her thigh against his cheek. The soft downy hair that covered her sex. The scrape of her nails on his scalp as he sucked on her clit.

"Dammit." Luke reached down and grabbed his cock and immediately felt his arousal soar. Her hair brushing his face, her breath and tongue caressing his ear, her hips locked against his, her fingers gripping his shoulders and her hot, tight, sex pulling him in deeper and deeper with every stroke. "Oh god."

Luke thought about the smell of her perfume, her shampoo, her arousal and he felt his own release build up a notch further but not quite to completion. He focused on her face and the sounds she made when she came and then as he recalled the garter belt she was wearing he finally felt himself give. His orgasm was powerful enough to make him cry out but it had nothing on his release the day before.

He lay in bed panting, spent, and tried to catch his breath. She had run from him twice now and although the first time he didn't really blame her, he didn't expect her to make such a swift getaway last night. Luke moved off the bed and went straight into the shower. He lathered, rinsed and repeated before stepping out to dry off all the while trying to figure out why she ran.

Luke pulled on fresh clothes and was folding up the cuffs of his shirt as he left his apartment. The usual crowd was down in the diner and Luke passed through with only a cursory greeting for Caesar. He ignored the cat calls from Patty and Babette as he left but when he pulled the door open the chime from the bell over the door shot right to his cock as he recalled it's incessant ringing every time he buried himself deep into her core. Luke stumbled down the steps and hurried away, hoping nobody noticed.

He made it to his truck without tripping or embarrassing himself further and drove straight to Lorelai's house. But no one was home. He knocked on the front and back door but there was no answer. Her jeep was gone but he had hoped perhaps Rory had taken it to school. Luke steeled himself for another trip as he returned to his truck and made his way to the inn.

* * *

Lorelai sat in her office with her feet up on the corner of the table and her head thrown over the back of the chair. Her eyes were screwed shut and she tried desperately not to think of...anything. Sookie had asked her about the festival but Lorelai had managed to stave off any story or explanation, grab a coffee and hide out in her office for the rest of the morning.

She tried not to think about Luke. His lips on hers, his hands caressing her, his cock moving slowly in and out of her, but no matter what topic she used to distract herself, her twisted mind dragged it back to Luke. She was annoyed.

At herself for letting him get under her skin like this.

At him for making her feel this way.

At herself for not being able to resist him.

At him for kissing her sensibilities into oblivion.

Damn, but he was a good kisser.

She allowed herself a small chuckle but as her mind wandered further down that path she quickly stopped and sat up. No. She would not go there. She needed to focus. Twice now she had gone into the diner and twice he had distracted her with his lips and his hands. This wasn't something that could continue. She wouldn't stand for it! She could barely stand after their performance last night.

But something was niggling at the back of her brain. Something she needed to figure out. Last night Luke had given her probably the best sex of her life. There was no real sophistication in what happened. It was desire, need, wanton lust. But these were the same sensations she had felt when she walked in the last time too. Only that time...that time it was without the happier, leg quivering, breathless, mind blowing ending.

So what happened? Why the change? Was he jealous of all the dates she had been going on? Lorelai shook her head. No, Luke wasn't the jealous type, she thought, though she couldn't really be sure. No this was different. This was something about him. Something was on his mind, something that perhaps has since been resolved.

Lorelai sat forward and steepled her hands in front of her face, both elbows planted on the table as she tried to focus. What was it that could turn Luke into a shudder ball of rage. Taylor? Yeah, definitely Taylor but there was no animosity between them at the festival yesterday. What else? She listed out the few things that she knew annoyed him, herself included but nothing was enough to get him to the edge she had seen him at the other week.

But something had dragged him to that precipice. Something made him do what he did but didn't let him finish. She had to know. She needed to talk to him. Lorelai grabbed the keys and raced out of the inn stopping only to tell Sookie she'd be back soon.

She gunned the engine and tore out of the inn property going as fast as she dared until she hit the main road. Her hands gripped the steering wheel with a white knuckle grip and she focused on the road. She wasn't even sure what she was going to say but she knew she needed to talk to him. She knew she needed to listen to him.

She parked haphazardly against, half mounted on the curb outside the diner and hurried in. Caesar was behind the counter pouring coffee for a few customers but the rest of the diner was empty.

"Caesar, is Luke here?" she said as she looked round to see if he was out of sight in the kitchen. "Maybe he's upstairs?"

"No, he left a little while ago."

"Oh, do you know where he went, or when he'll be back?"

"No, I've no idea. He's off all day, so he could be gone all day."

"Oh, ok, thanks." Lorelai felt herself deflate and turned to leave. She pulled the door open and the chime from the bell shot right through her making her shiver. Back in her jeep she thought about returning to the inn, but instead she found herself driving home. She parked and made her way across the garden with a small wave at Babette then went straight to the kitchen and pulled a beer out of the fridge.

She tossed the cap into the sink then walked out to the back porch and sat on the swing. The gentle summer breeze was cooling against her skin and the cold beer took care of the rest.

* * *

Luke hurried through the inn lobby and went straight for the kitchen. He burst through the door and found Sookie decorating a large three tiered cake, a frown of concentration on her face.

"Sookie, is Lorelai here?"

"Hmm?" she looked up as if she hadn't heard him coming in and started at the sight of a breathless Luke standing in her kitchen. "Luke? What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for Lorelai."

"She's not here."

"What? Where is he?"

"What do you care!" Sookie shot back, shocking Luke enough to make him step back. But Sookie wasn't satisfied. She approached Luke holding the icing bag like a knife and pointed it at him threateningly. "You've not been very nice to Lorelai lately have you?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Kissing her like that, then discarding her like trash."

"What?!" Luke backed away but Sookie continued to chase.

"I expected more of you Luke Danes, I expected you to treat her like she deserves!"

"Sookie, it's not-"

"It is! You lure her into your bed, and then you cast her aside, like yesterday's donuts."

"Sookie!" Luke was back against the wall but she kept coming until she had the icing bag pressed against his chest, the soft pink fondant coming out onto his shirt. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away. "It's not like that."

"Oh? So what it is Luke? What is it like that makes you kiss her and run?"

"I need to talk to Lorelai, where is she?"

"I don't know, she raced out of here a little while ago." Sookie pulled her hands away and Luke let her, and she stepped back.

"Do you know where she went?"

"No Luke I don't, though based on her actions since you messed her up, maybe she had a hot date."

Luke felt the sting from her words and realized he deserved that. He held his hands up in surrender and bowed his head. Sookie backed away further. "I need to talk to her."

"Talk?"

Luke felt himself blush and he darted his eyes up to look at her. "Yeah, I really need to talk to her."

"I really don't know where she is gone," she said after a beat. "But I can let her know you were looking for her when she comes back."

"Thanks Sookie."

Luke left and climbed into his truck, unknowingly taking the same white knuckle journey Lorelai had taken only moments before him. He had barely stepped into the diner, long enough to curse that damned bell, when Caesar called out from the kitchen.

"Hey boss, Lorelai was looking for you."

"What? When?"

"About 30 mins ago. She was looking pretty frantic."

"Where is she now?"

"I dunno, I told her you were gone and she took off."

"Thanks Caesar." Luke spun on his heel and this time took off on foot to Lorelai's house. At first he was walking, a brisk stride through the square but as soon as he turned the corner onto her street, he broke into a run. By the time he got to her house he was breathless, but he knew it was more that he was nervous to see Lorelai, than the short sprint.

He knocked on the door but there was no response. He spotted her jeep outside so he knew she was home, so he knocked again this time calling out her name. He knew the back door would either be unlocked or easy to break in to, so he hurried around the porch to try but stopped short when he saw her sitting cross legged on the porch swing drinking a beer.

"Lorelai!"

"Luke," she turned to see him and spit out some beer in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." He came closer and she shuffled over to make room for him on the swing. "We need to talk."

"Talk talk? Or talk like we did yesterday, because if it's the latter-"

"No talk talk, I need to really talk."

"We haven't been very good at that lately."

"I've never been good at that," he admitted with a half shrug. He came closer and sat on the swing, making it move back and forth a little.

"So… you want to talk…?" She sipped her beer again, to keep her hands and mouth busy. Busy with something other than him, she clarified in her head and glanced up at him briefly to see if he noticed.

"Yeah, but first I need to apologise."

"So help me Luke if you apologise for what happened yesterday-"

"No!" he warned her, putting a hand on her leg to stop her from getting up. "No, god no, that is one of the few actions I've taken in the last few weeks that I am not sorry for."

"So what are you apologising for?" Lorelai sat back into the swing and sipped her beer again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't talk to you properly when you came into the diner that night." Luke took a breath and resettled himself on the swing making it move again. "I'm sorry I didn't...perform at my best...I'm sorry I let you leave like that...I'm sorry I didn't chase you...I'm sorry I left it for so long before I did chase you."

"Alright, alright, you've apologised."

"Yeah, so...sorry."

"Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

"No." Luke shuffled on the seat and turned to face her as he draped one arm along the back of the swing. "Liz sued me for half my business." he blurted out.

"What?"

"Liz, and some guy she is seeing, sued me for half of what my father left us."

"Wait, what?" Lorelai put the beer down and curled her hair around her ears as she leaned forward to hear him better. "She is suing you?"

"Not any more. My father left us the building in his will. Liz wasn't around for the funeral or division of his estate, but now she wants half."

"She can't just take half."

"We went to court last week."

"What?"

"With a mediator, to discuss the case."

"What? Oh my god?!" She covered her face with her hands as she tried to block out all distractions and take in what he was saying, This was all starting to make sense.

"I had to show the books of the diner, the accounts my father held, the mortgage for the building I had to take out after paying off his debts, and then we met with the mediator in a group setting in Boston, and he listened to both sides of the story." Luke watched her take it all in. Her eyes got wider and wider and her jaw slackened to the point where she was openly gaping at him. "I got notice on Friday that the mediator sided with me, so the case was thrown out. They had until last night to appeal, but they didn't."

"Oh my god, Luke!"

"I called her, but she didn't talk to me. This guy she is seeing, whom I believe to be the root of all of this, hung up on me."

"Luke, that is terrible." She rested a hand on his knee and squeezed it tenderly.

"That evening you came into the diner," he looked down at her hand on his knee. "That evening we tried…"

"Tried?"

"Well I just got off the phone with Liz." Luke drummed his fingers on the back of the swing. "I wasn't seeing straight. I was so filled with I dunno, helplessness. Then you came in, looking how you do and I just saw red."

"Gee, thanks." She pulled back from him and locked her hands together between her knees.

"No, Lorelai, please, listen to me." He grabbed her hand and pulled it onto his lap. "I was blind with rage, but I wasn't blind to you."

"Cheese plate for one, your order is ready...but go on."

"I thought this was something I wanted, something I could handle, something that would help me feel better."

"This? You mean me?" she spat out and tried to take her hand back but he held her firmly.

"Yes Lorelai, you, always you!"

"Luke, I'm not a distraction you can use to keep your mind of things, Then discard when you're through." She snatched her hand back off him and stood off the swing. She finished the beer and slammed the empty bottle on the porch rail. "I'm not disposable."

"I know, I know!" he stood with her and grabbed her hands again. "I think that's where it all went pear shaped. Oh my god Lorelai, kissing you was better than I ever imagined." He brought her knuckles up to his lips and kissed them gently. "And that was it, I only meant to kiss you in the diner but once I started I couldn't stop, and all of a sudden you were in my apartment, you were naked and you were waiting for me and I realised if I went through with this you might not forgive me. Then I looked up at you and…"

"And?" she urged him to continue.

"And you looked bored."

"Bored?!"

"Lorelai you were lying in my bed, naked, with your legs wrapped around me and when I...when I moved...and looked at your face, you looked bored."

"Luke, I was feeling a lot of things that night, but I can assure you, boredom was not one of them."

"I looked straight in your eyes Lorelai, and it wasn't like it was last night."

"Maybe it wasn't me that was bored." she challenged him without looking up.

"Are you kidding me?" He curled a finger under her chin and make her look at him. "I was lying in bed with Lorelai Gilmore, I'm not sure how I didn't embarrass myself before I got as far as i did." He scoffed and thought about leaning in to kiss her now, but the nervous expression hiding behind her bravado stopped him. "Lorelai, what happened that night, or rather didn't happen, had nothing to do with you. Nothing. I can promise you that."

"I don't need your promises." She looked down and spotted the smeared pink icing across the front of his chest and frowned.

"That night I was distraught and I knew the minute I ...the minute I was inside you, that I wanted to be there, but for a different reason."

"Huh?"

"Look Lorelai, I admit it, I grabbed you then because I needed to block out the rage. I needed to feel something other than despair. I needed to grab hold of something visceral that I could control, and then you walked in and you were wearing that skirt and I just grabbed you and held on."

"Luke…"

"I know, I know, I shouldn't have done it but the minute I realised it was wrong I stopped. The minute I realised you weren't enjoying it."

"I was enjoying it."

"Not as much as you could have enjoyed, it if I was there for the right reasons, like yesterday." Lorelai blushed and looked away and Luke let her have this moment. "When I asked you to come to the diner yesterday I wanted to tell you all of this."

"But instead you just kissed me again."

Luke chuckled. "I couldn't help it." He reached down and took one of her hands in both of his. "I get within a couple of yards of you and all bets are off."

"Luke, c'mon, be serious." She pulled her hand back and walked over to the swing then sat down again with an oompfh

"I am being serious Lorelai." He joined her on the swing. "I've been thinking about kissing you since I met you. I started thinking about doing a lot more to you shortly after that. I think that's why I grabbed you in the diner. I felt like everything I cared about was slipping away. Everything that mattered to me was slipping through my fingers and then you walked into the diner." He turned to face her and moved her shoulder aside to make her face him too. "And there was no way I was going to lose you too."

"Luke…"

"So when I turned, and you were in that god damned skirt, and you were smiling at me. I'm not even sure what you said," he admitted with a chuckle. "I just know I needed you, and I needed you to need me."

"Luke, stop, wait.'

"Am I making sense? Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Luke drew one hand over his face and puffed out a breath of air. "I'm not very good at this talking part."

"You're better than you think."

"Yeah?" he uttered the word and moved his head enough to look at her form the corner of his eye.

"Yeah." she cupped his face and pulled him towards her. She hovered beside him, their lips just out of reach for a moment then closed the distance and kissed him tenderly. Luke froze. He was afraid to move in case she disappeared in a puff of smoke but when she tilted her hand and parted her lips.

Luke moved his hands from his lap to her hips and pulled her across the swing closer to him and tugged her onto his lap where he could fold his arms fully around her and deepen the kiss. She melted against him, circled his neck with her arms and held him as tight as she dared. They parted when they needed air but only enough to breath then he crushed her lips with his again.

"Much better." she whispered against his neck as her tongue swirled around the sensitive skin below his ear.

"I want you Lorelai," he said, his voice hoarse with need.

"You had me."

"I want you now, I want you without the shock, and the urgency. I want you slow and soft," he kissed her neck and sucked her lobe into his mouth. "I want you pliant, I want you hungry, I want you to need me as much as I need you."

"Luke…" She moved her head to give him better access and he kissed her down to her shoulder. "Let's go inside."

Luke pulled back and looked at her to be sure he had heard her. "Yeah?"

Lorelai nodded, then slipped off his lap and held out both hands to him. Luke didn't hesitate, he took them and she pulled him to his feet with a giggle. She tugged him into the house and hurried through the kitchen then upstairs to her room. At the door to her bedroom, Luke hesitated and Lorelai turned back to face him, her smile faltering.

"Luke?"

"Are you sure about this?" He scratched the back of his neck, in what she was now recognising as his gesture for when he didn't know what to do with his hands. "I mean I haven't even taken you out yet." That thought made him sober and he stood up straighter. "You do want to go out with me right? I mean it's not just...it's not just sex right?"

"No Luke," she said with a soft laugh. "It's not just sex. It could never be just anything with us two, it wasn't just friendship and it's not just sex."

"Okay, good." He allowed her to pull him into her room. "But still, I should take you out, go for dinner, or a movie, something."

"Please, that ship has sailed." She got to the edge of her bed and reached up to pull his cap off. Then she tugged on his undershirt to pull it out of his jeans and pulled both it and his flannel off over his head. But as she reached for his belt and pulled it open then started to fumble with the fastening on his jeans, he grabbed her wrists.

"You said slow," he muttered.

"No, you said slow."

"But I want it slow."

"And I want it now."

"Lorelai." He pulled her hands up away from his jeans though she has already managed to pull them open. He moved her hands to the back of his neck then slowly traced his hands down her arms to her shoulders, over her back to her ass and he pulled her against him. She smiled when she felt his arousal pressing into her hip and moved herself against him. Luke's eyes fluttered closed and he used every ounce of his will power to stop himself from reciprocating. "Slow."

He bent his head and kissed her softly, only allowing his tongue come into play when hers caressed the inside of his mouth. He moved her hips away from his and let his hands roam all over her back, up her ribs, caressed the side of her breasts and gently cupped her ass.

"Luke, please!" She whined when he moved his head to kiss her neck but his hands still ran over her body, on top of her clothes.

"Shhh."

"No!" she pushed him away then stepped back, grabbed the bottom of her top and pulled it off over her head. She fumbled for the side zipper of her skirt then tugged it down and let it drop to the floor. She deftly kicked it aside, then her shoes followed and she stood before him in nothing but mismatched panties and a bra.

Luke felt his breath catch in his throat and his fingers twitched by his sides as they danced with the urge to reach out to her.

"You can strip it all off if you like Lorelai, I don't care. I'm taking this slow."

"Really?" He watched with a frown as her hands moved up over her stomach and cupped her breasts. She squeezed herself tenderly and Luke couldn't help the soft moan that escaped his lips. Lorelai smiled triumphantly and watched how his eyes narrowed when her hands moved to her back and unhooked the clasp of her bra.

"I said slow." He stepped closer as the bra fell to the floor and her fingers curled around the edge of her panties. He covered her hands with his own and pulled her panties down, dropping to his knees to take them off her entirely. "Real. Slow."

Her hands moved over the back of her legs up her thighs to cup her ass and draw her closer. He buried his face between her legs and inhaled deeply. He could smell her arousal and it made him even harder. He wanted to stand up, throw her onto the bed and bury his cock deep inside her in one move, but he needed this to be slow. Real. Slow.

His tongue lapped her tenderly and Lorelai's hands grabbed his head and thrust forward. She cried out when he slipped past her folds and dragged his tongue up to her clit where he circled it tantalizingly slowly before pulling it into his mouth to suckle it softly.

"Oh fuck, Luke," she moaned.

"Not yet." He hummed against her and moved his hand to her entrance then slowly slid one finger in. She cried out again and Luke felt her wetness amplify. He slipped another finger in and curled them against her inner walls and he felt her legs quiver.

He pulled back and the cry she let out was the one that almost broke his resolve. He pushed her onto the bed, and followed on his knees, then grabbed her ankles and placed one then the other flat on the mattress, pulling her body close enough to the edge to be able to reach her exactly where he wanted.

One hand reached up her body to curl around her breast, drag his thumb over her already peaked nipple, the other pressed down on her pubic bone to hold her in place as he moved his tongue to her entrance and slowly penetrated her.

"Luke, god, oh!" she bucked beneath him bowing her back and pushing her hips up to his face. Luke moved his tongue to her clit and circled it slowly then dragged it back down to her entrance and mirrored the same action. "Now, jesus Luke, Now."

"No."

"Luke!" she pleaded and she grabbed a fistful of his hair and shoved him into her without a care. He lapped her like a melting ice cream, being sure to take in every inch, sucking, nibbling, teasing her to the very edge then pulled back and kissed the soft silky skin of her inner thighs. Lorelai writhed and squirmed beneath him, encouraging him to to go faster, harder, deeper, but he took no heed of her urges and kept going at this maddeningly slow pace.

He pulled away and crawled up over her but kept her feet planted on the bed. He hovered above her and she could feel the brush of the top of his cock against her belly, as it protruded from his open jeans, and it made her whimper. Her hands immediately went to touch him and he let her for a moment. She stroked his shaft and started to guide him to her entrance but he pulled away and grabbed her hands. He held them above her head and shook his head at her. "Not yet."

"Luke, this is too slow, too slow, dammit!"

"Says who?" he asked as he bent to lave her nipples with his tongue in slow soft strokes that made her tremble.

"Says me!"

"Well tough." He lifted his head and looked at her. Her eyes were dark shimmering pools of need. Her hair was loose and fanned out on her bed sheets. Her lips were parted and her breathing was ragged. This was the face he wanted to see when he looked at her, this was the face she needed to make when he entered her. But first he had some exploring to do. He moved his tongue over her body, catching every inch, inspecting every freckle as if he'd never encountered one before.

He kissed her ankles, her knees, his hips, her mound, all the while allowing his hands to follow suit and roam across her skin as far as he could reach. She was a melted puddle beneath him, ready to snap at the slightest touch but he was careful not to touch her where he knew she would break. He stood back and Lorelai lifted her head as she watched him undo his jeans fully and pulled them down.

"Finally!" she whispered. Luke smiled as he toed off his boots then hooked his thumbs into his boxers and shed them too. She looked him over and he let her take his fill before moving, but as she started to sit up he sprang forward and pressed her back into the bed.

"Roll over," he said as he kissed the skin between her breasts.

"Huh?"

"Roll over, I'm not finished yet."

"Luke!" she protested, trying to wriggle her wrists out of his grip and reach for him.

"Almost…" He gently tugged on her shoulder and made her roll over then pushed her up to the middle of the bed to a more comfortable position. Luke climbed on top and straddled her legs and let his hands roam over her back. He moved her hair aside to get access to her shoulders then lowered his head and dragged his tongue from the top of her spine to the small of her back. He gripped her hips as she bowed beneath him, She clenched the cheeks of her ass against his cock and he couldn't help his hips from betraying his need. He felt her chuckle into the pillow and he leaned forward, pressing himself against her ass. "Think that's funny?"

"A little."

"Well that gets you and even slower exploration."

"Luke!" she protested weakly as she clenched her ass around him again and delighted in the soft grunt that escaped him.

"Lorelai," he muttered, his voice low and threatening against her ear, making her shudder. "That's not going to get you fucked any sooner, so stop trying."

A shiver of shock coursed through her at his words and she felt her arousal kick up a notch. He pulled away, leaned over her again and began to shower her back in kisses, licks, nips and strokes from his tongue and his fingers. He cupped her ass and ran his tongue over the crevice of her ass then kissed the dimples at the small of her back. She protested weakly and moved beneath his every touch. Her gasps spurred him on, her cries and moans made him want to be buried deep, deep inside her and he was nearing the time when he would not be able to hold out for much longer.

Luke leaned up off her and just looked down at her for a moment. Her body was soft, rumpled, and pliant. Her hair fanned out above her head and her arms were loose by her sides, fingers curled slightly towards her palms. Her back was covered in small marks from his lips, his teeth, this hands and her ass was pert and rosy, pointing at him proudly.

When she felt him move off her but not move away she turned her head a little to look for him. "What's goin on back there?"

"Just admiring my handywork."

"Huh?" She tried to roll over beneath him but he held her in place with his legs.

"Your back is amazing." His hands stroked down from her shoulders to her ass, cupped her cheeks with a little squeeze then brought his hands back up to squeeze her shoulders.

"Luke…"

"Hmm?"

"Can I roll over?"

"Oh, yeah…" He raised himself on his knees and gave her room to roll over then mimicked the motion of his hands over her chest this time. She arched into his touch, higher when his hands covered her breasts and Luke focused his attention there for a little while. He squeezed them individually, then pressed them together before lowering his face to smother them both in kisses.

"Luke…"

"Hmm? He murmured against her nipple.

"I'm going to kill you." She felt him smile against her skin. "Slowly." she added when his teeth clamped down gently on her nipple making her cry out. Her hands gripped his sides and moved to his hips then slipped between them and grasped his cock.

Luke lifted his head and body and looked down to where she had hold of him. He looked back up to her face and cocked an eyebrow. Her lips curved into a defiant smile and she arched her back to press against him.

"Now Luke, so help me god."

"So help you Luke you mean," he said as he moved away and took her hands off him, ignoring her frustrated groan. He gripped her thighs and parted her legs as he moved between them and lowered his face to kiss her navel.

"Help me Luke," she whispered and she gripped his hair and pulled him higher. "Help me."

Luke smiled and kissed her then lowered his body to cover hers entirely. She sighed with satisfaction and wasted no time in wrapping her legs around his waist to press his ass with her heels and settle him even closer against her. Luke tried desperately not to press his hips on to her but his body had other ideas. She reciprocated his every move but this wasn't near enough.

He pulled back enough to slip his hand between them, then guided himself to her entrance. He looked at her face and again reveled in the expression he saw there and when he started to sink into her, but her eyes fluttered closed he stilled. His hand came up to cup her cheek and he brushed her lips with the pad of his thumb.

"Lorelai...look at me." Her eyes opened again and she sought him out. As soon as their eyes connected again he started to sink into her again. "Lorelai," he said again, when her eyes started to close. "Keep looking at me."

He stared at her until he was fully sheathed in her and he held his breath for a moment before he moved again. His hips pulled back, sliding his cock out of her right to the tip then slowly he fell back into her depths. As soon as he was buried in her for the second time, Lorelai broke apart around him. Her inner walls stroked and squeezed him and Luke clenched his jaw to keep himself from spilling into her. She kept her eyes open wide, staring at him, seeing what he was feeling, showing him what he was doing to her and she let her body ride the crest of the wave that was breaking over her. She felt heavy and hot, like her limbs would never move again and she was sure she never wanted to be anywhere but right here anyway.

"Ok?" Luke whispered as if asking permission to move again and she smiled demurely and nodded. He lowered his head and kissed her tenderly then slowly slid out of her then right back in again. He tried his damnedest to keep a slow steady pace but her pull was proving to be too much and without even thinking about it, he started to move faster.

Her hand came up to his face and the other stroked the centre of his back. He gripped her hip and pressed her into the bed as he pumped into her, the exquisite sensation of her hot, velvet walls pulling him deeper with every stroke, made him cry out with the need to both prolong and finish this.

"Lorelai!" he cried out when he felt himself expand inside her. She quivered around him, gasped against his ear, panting, needy with every breath, every grunt, every moan. "Lorelai, oh!"

"I'm here Luke, I'm with you," she whispered as she felt her own orgasm shudder in the first wave of release.

"Now, oh, now." He felt himself shatter from his core and everything in him spilled into her hot tight core. His cock spasmed against her, throbbing deep inside her and she followed him over the edge and mingled his cries with her own.

Luke fell atop of her, heavy and spent and Lorelai welcomed his weight. She stroked his back, kissed his temple and held him against her until she felt the first stirrings of his movement again. "No, not yet," she protested when he started to move away but instead Luke slipped his hands beneath her and rolled them both over so she was on top. Her head rested on his chest and he kissed her hair as his hands ran over the column of her spine and the curve of her ass.

"Luke?" she whispered into the stillness of the room.

"Hmm?"

"That was way too fucking slow."

Luke chuckled. "Well we tried the fast and dirty, I just wanted to see what it was like."

"Too slow."

"Just right," he countered.

Lorelai pushed off his chest and sat up, their bodies still connected in the most intimate way. "These past few weeks have been insane." she said as her hands traced over the dusting of hair on his chest.

"Horrible."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Can we promise to not be stubborn like that and instead talk out whatever is bothering us?"

"Not be stubborn? I'm not sure I can promise that."

"No?"

"Well being stubborn today got me some mind blowing sex."

Lorelai swatted his chest and he caught her hands and rolled them over again, this time pressing against her core to keep her in place.

"Already?" she said as she moved against him.

Luke laughed, a deep throaty laugh that made his whole body shake, and through their connection, hers too. "No. not even close." He sobered up enough to look down at her and smiled. "I wish."

"Me too."

"Don't you need to get back to work?"

"Yeah I do, soon."

"I better let you go so."

"No!" Lorelai cried out and she gripped his hip to stop him from pulling away but it was too late. He slipped out of her and rolled onto his back next to her. "Booo!"

"If there was a way I could be buried inside you forever Lorelai, I would do it."

Lorelai sat up and leaned back on her hands then looked over her shoulder at him. "Look at you lying there all smug." Luke's smile widened and he looked back at her, not an ounce of shyness in him. "You're like the cat that caught the cream."

"It wasn't cream I was licking."

"Luke!" she swatted his chest again but he caught her hands and pulled her down on top of him. "You're filthy."

"I'm only getting started." He cupped her face and lifted his head to kiss her deeply but as he felt her body move against his he pulled back and rolled her over to his side. "We better get going."

"Double Boo!"

Luke stood and went into the bathroom and Lorelai grabbed some shorts and a tee from the wardrobe. When he returned and saw what she was wearing he arched an eyebrow as he pulled on his boxers and jeans. "You not going into work?"

"I am, but I think I'll grab a quick shower first."

"Good idea."

"You care to join?" she said as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger.

"If I joined, it would not be a quick shower. And Rory will be home in a few hours so no, I won't join." He saw the flicker of disappointment on her face. "This time."

He pulled his tee on over his head and started to unbutton his flannel only to then find the smear of icing across the front. "Dammit, Sookie!"

"She did that?"

"She was threatening me with the icing bag."

"Threatening you?"

"I called over to the inn to find you earlier and Sookie read me the riot act for how I've been treating you these past few weeks."

"Oh Luke!" Lorelai covered her face with her hands. "I'm so sorry, she shouldn't have done that."

"It's fine, I deserved it. I've been a cranky ass."

"No, you haven't." She said automatically but when he responded with a raised eyebrow she added. "At least no more than usual."

"Please, that's sweet of you to say but I have been a cranky ass. And way worse than usual." He waded up the shirt and draped it over his knee as he sat on the bed and put on his boots. "Especially when I saw you were out on a date," he muttered.

"You noticed that huh?"

"How could I not notice. You seemed to have a different guy take you out to dinner every night of the week," he said, unable to keep the sting out of his voice.

"Well I am young and single, why wouldn't I?" she snapped back, her hands resting on her hips.

"No wait Lorelai," he stood up and dropped the shirt to the floor as he crossed the room in two easy strides to get to her. "You don't need to explain. You could see whomever you like."

"I was just trying-"

"It's fine."

"I was just trying-"

"Seriously, it's ok."

"Luke, dammit!" She slapped his chest gently. "I was just trying to get over you."

"Huh?"

Lorelai paused, unsure if she wanted to continue. "Let's not talk about this now. Let's talk later."

"Oh...okay." He said and he stepped back a little to give her some space. "But we don't have to, you don't need to explain." He slipped his hands into his back pockets and rocked back on his heels. "But you're not-"

"No, I'm not seeing anyone now." she said. "Anyone else." she added and he smiled.

"That's enough for me."

Luke leaned in and kissed her tenderly on the lips then bent over to pick up his shirt. "Here, leave that with me, I'll wash it."

"No, that's fine."

"Seriously, Give it here," she said as she snatched it out of his grip and tossed it over her shoulder to the laundry basket.

"I'm never going to see that again, am I," he grumbled as she ushered him out of the room.

"You might."

They walked down stairs and to the front porch then Luke turned and braced himself off the door frame as he leaned back in towards her. "Can I see you tonight?"

"Yes, you better."

"Can I take you out tonight?"

"How about you stay in with me?" she said and she rested two hands on his chest. "Movie night with me and Rory."

Luke nodded and smiled. "See you about 8?"

"Perfect."

* * *

 **A/N** : Is this the end? I don't know. It feels like a good point to finish but I left the Liz story unresolved. I think I will continue, I hate loose ends.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N** : Shameless stole some show dialogue, but as Max doesn't really exist in this fic I think its fine.

* * *

Lorelai sauntered into the kitchen at the inn with a definite spring in her step. Sookie spotted her the minute she entered and dropped what she was doing to grab her arm.

"Luke was in here looking for you!"

"I know," she replied with a wicked grin.

Sookie paused and narrowed her eyes at Lorelai. "Wait a minute, you're wearing different clothes." She leaned in and sniffed Lorelai's hair. "And you showered." she gasped and leaned back, covering her mouth with her hand. "You've had sex!" she said with a shriek and a giggle. "You've had sex with Luke!"

"Sookie!" Lorelai grabbed her friends arm and pulled her outside to the back porch but Sookie skipped and danced delightedly behind her. "Keep it down will you?"

"What happened?"

"I checked for him at the diner but he wasn't there, so I went home to gather my thoughts. He found me there and we talked it out."

"Talked?"

"At first."

"Ohhhh!" Sookie grabbed Lorelai's arm and shook it. "What happened then?"

"We talked, he told me what's being going on with him, what's been driving him crazy. And then we...made up."

"Made out more like."

"That too."

Sookie grabbed her friends arm and shook it with delight. "I knew you two would make up."

"I heard you threatened him with an icing bag."

"Threatened is such an ugly word."

"Thanks Sookie." She reached over and hugged her friend.

"So wasn't I right that this issue had nothing to do with you, doesn't he find you as completely irresistible as he should?"

Lorelai chuckled and thought of the afternoon spent with Luke and felt herself blushing. "He certainly does."

"So are you two an item now… or…?"

"An item, definitely an item."

Sookie squealed with delight again and danced in a circle around her. "This calls for celebration cake!"

"I'm going to go meet Rory off the bus, if that's ok." Lorelai said. "I want to talk to her about all this before it gets out around town and she find another way."

"Of course, of course."

A few hours later Lorelai was sitting at the bus stop at the square waiting for Rory to climb off her bus and when she did, she stood and engulfed her daughter in a tight hug.

"What's all this?" Rory said as she leaned into her mother's arms.

"I wanted to meet you off the bus and go for a walk."

"A walk?" Rory pulled back and held her mother at arm's length. "Now I know something is wrong."

"Nothing is wrong, everything is great," Lorelai said smiling.

"So what's all this?"

Lorelai linked arms with Rory and guided her towards the gazebo. They claimed the bench in the centre and sat side by side, Rory watching her mother for any sign that what she was about to tell her was going to be bad news.

"Well?" Rory prodded.

"I um...me and...hmmm...this is harder than I thought it was going to be."

"Mom you're starting to worry me." Rory took her mother's hand.

"No honey, don't worry." Lorelai smiled. "I want to date Luke. I am dating Luke. Luke and I are dating."

"Really?" Rory frowned. "I thought you guys were giving each other space, I thought you were fighting."

"We made up."

"Ew," Rory said and pulled back but Lorelai followed her with a smile and a chuckle.

"No honey, that's not what I mean." Lorelai brushed her daughters hair behind her ears. "We had had a bit of a disagreement, but that's over now. We talked today and we want to give each other a chance...at dating."

"Dating." Rory mulled the word over. "Does that mean he will be staying over?"

"Yes." Lorelai said resolutely, not a trace of hesitation. "Unless you feel completely weirded out by that. But I really hope you don't."

"I don't think it would be that weird. I mean it's Luke."

"Yeah, Luke."

"Does this mean we can go back to eating at the diner?"

Lorelai laughed. "Yes, it does."

"Then I'm fine with it."

"Really? All jokes aside?"

"Yes mom. Luke is a great guy. He will treat you well, but I really like him, so if you hurt him…"

Lorelai smiled and hugged her daughter close. "He's going to come over tonight for movie night. Thought it would be good to show him all our bad habits straight away."

"Good thinking." Lets go pick out a truly bad movie then, so if he makes it through that, we know he's a keeper."

Lorelai laughed and the two of them stood and walked to the video rental arm in arm.

Luke saw Lorelai arrive at the bus stop and he was about to go over and meet her when he realised what she was doing. He tried to keep busy in the diner, serving customers, taking orders but he only managed to muck things up so Caesar kicked him out just as Rory's bus pulled up.

He raced up to his apartment and over to the window by the sink which looked out over the square. He watched the Gilmore girls walk arm in arm towards the gazebo and chat. He tried to see any changes in their demeanour. Any sign that whatever they were talking about, he knew it to be him, was being taken badly. He watched them hug and laugh and his heart started to beat again.

Luke checked his watch. It was just past four. Way too long before he was going to call round. He went over to his bed and flopped down on it face first.

* * *

At about seven, showered, and changed and ready to go to Lorelai's he reached for the phone and dialled her number with his thumb. It rang twice before she picked up, laughing and breathless.

"Gilmore house of beauty, this the head cutie!" she said and Luke heard Rory groan in the background.

"Lorelai?"

"Hey, Luke,"

Rory wuuuu'd as she walked by the phone and Lorelai laughed.

"Hey, I was just wondering if you needed me to bring anything by later."

"Just your hot bod."

"I mean fries, or something?"

"We've just ordered chinese food, I hope you like chicken and pork, as we finished the beef side last week."

"Yeah sure that's fine. So I don't need to bring anything?"

"Well I never said that…"

"Donuts?"

"And danishes!"

"Okay. I'll see you shortly."

"Food should be here in about thirty minutes, so if you wanted to come early…" Lorelai trailed off and twirled the phone cord around her finger.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, do, come whenever you're ready, we're just sitting on the couch eating ice cream."

"Ice cream? Didn't you just say you ordered chinese food?"

"Yeah, it's a palate cleanser."

"Okay, I'm not even going to pull that thread." He chuckled. "I'll see you in a little while."

Luke arrived shortly with two coffees and a bag of various pastries which the girls quickly devoured despite the take out being due to arrive any minute. They huddled on the couch, ate out of cartons, swapping them back and forth until everything was gone, and watched a schlock horror movie called "Chopping Mall" which Luke had the audacity to laugh at, earning him more than a few glares from the girls who sat either side of him.

Lorelai's feet were tucked under his leg and his hand rested on her ankle, his thumb rubbing soft circles into her skin.

After the movie, the girls got back to snacking on pastries for a little while longer then Rory stood up and declared it time for her to go to bed. Luke stood with her and not wanting to be the only person sitting Lorelai stood too. Rory kissed her cheek and waved at Luke then hurried off to her room.

"Um, why are we standing?" she asked as Luke shucked his jeans and looked around the room.

"I should go."

"Go?" Lorelai grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto the seat next to her. "Why would you leave?"

"I thought, with Rory…"

"Thought with Rory what?" she urged him to continue.

"Thought I should leave when she went to bed."

"But...you're not staying?"

"Staying?" he turned and looked at her in shock. "Rory is right there!"

"And we'll be all the way over on the other side of the house, up there!" She pointed at her room.

"Lorelai-"

"Wait, let me get this straight." She reseated herself on the couch, crossing one leg under herself, the other she draped over his lap. "We're dating now."

"Yeah."

"And we're exclusive."

"Yes!" he frowned at her, not sure where this was going.

"So we're dating and sleeping together, but you won't sleep here while Rory is home."

"I mean…"

"And she has three more years of high school left." Lorelai cupped his face and made him look at her. "So are you going to be abstinent from now until Rory leaves home?"

"No." He coughed lightly. "I mean, there'll be sleep overs right?"

Lorelai chuckled. "Not nearly enough."

"Lorelai, I just don't want her to be freaked out by this, by us, by me."

"She won't be." Lorelai leaned in and kissed his cheek. "We already talked about it. She's fine with it."

"She is?"

"Mmm hmm." She stood and reached out her hand for him and after only a quick glance over at Rory's room Luke took her hand and let her lead him upstairs.

They got to her door and he pulled her back before they entered. "Would it be ok if we just slept?"

Lorelai smiled. She nodded, tugged his arm and led her into his room. He spotted that the bed sheets had been changed since he was in here earlier but little else had. The piles of clothing draped on nearly every surface including his rumpled shirt over by the laundry basket remained untouched.

"I didn't bring anything to sleep in." he said when he spotted her pulling out a pair of PJs from a drawer.

"What do you usually sleep in?" she was pulling her top off and he almost looked away.

"Sweats, and a tee."

"Well you can keep on the tee if you like and use your boxers."

"Lorelai, are you sure about this?"

Lorelai pulled a tank top on over her head and pulled it down fully then turned around and walked over to him. She took both of his hands in hers and rubbed her thumbs over his palms. "Luke, I don't want to make you uncomfortable. If you do not want to stay, I won't be offended by your leaving." She reached up on tip toes and kissed his lips softly.

"I want to stay," he said as his hands gripped her hips lightly. "But I want to be sure Rory is ok with us first."

"Well then, let me go check." She kissed Luke again then danced out of the room, ignoring his protests. She hurried down stairs and carefully opened Rory's door. The room was dark and a book with a reading light attached was resting on the girls chest.

"Hey Rory, sweetie… are you awake?"

"No."

Lorelai smiled and climbed onto the bed behind her daughter and snuggled up next to her.

"What do you want woman? I'm trying to sleep."

"I have a boy in my room."

"So?"

"So, I have a boy in my room!" she said giving Rory's arm a little shake.

"It's Luke."

"I know."

"You like Luke."

"Yes, of course I do. But it's weird. We've never had a man in the house."

"Dad has slept here."

"On the couch." Lorelai corrected. "We've never had a man in the house like this, up there," she pointed at the ceiling.

"You just need to adjust."

"How about you? Do you need to adjust?"

"I've adjusted fine. I'm trying to sleep."

"He's up there now, waiting for me."

"Then you should scurry off and get back to him." Rory paused for a moment then half rolled over to face her mother over her shoulder. "Are you happy?"

"Yes, I am," Lorelai said as she buried her face against Rory's shoulder, almost hiding the vibrance of her smile.

"Then you'll get used to it."

"I know, I will." She kissed Rory's temple and climbed out of the bed. "Goodnight kid."

"Night mom." Rory rolled back onto her side as Lorelai pulled the door closed.

Luke was up in her room pacing.

He had pulled off his shirt and undershirt but as he took off his boots and stood to remove his pants he hesitated. What if Rory was weirded out by him being there, what if he had to leave, he didn't want to have to dress all over again. Instead he sat on the edge of the bed, but he couldn't sit still while the gilmore girls were down stairs deciding his fate.

So he started to pace.

He paused when he heard Lorelai rushing back up the stairs and when she came bounded in with a smile on her face he started to relax.

"Hey good lookin'" She said as she approached and let both hands roam over his chest. "I'm liking this half dressed look."

"What did she say?"

"She is fine with it." Lorelai reached up and kissed him softly then stepped back and went over to the drawers to continue getting ready. She pulled off her jeans and panties and slipped into a pair of light cotton pyjama shorts. When she turned, expecting to see Luke ready for bed, she noticed he hadn't moved and instead was just staring at her. "What?"

"You're beautiful."

Lorelai blushed. She walked over to him and rested her hands on his chest again. "You like what you see?"

"I do."

"Well get off these damn jeans and you can snuggle up to it too." she spoke as she walked into the bathroom and it took a moment more before Luke was able to move. He took off his jeans and draped it over the back of the chair along with his shirts. When he turned to the bed and pulled down the duvet and rested on the side until she came back.

"Bathroom is all yours," she said as she rubbed the last of her cream into her face and neck.

"You have a side of the bed?"

"Hmm?"

"Which side of the bed do you lie on?"

"There is no side of the bed when you're sleeping in it alone." She crossed the room and swayed next to him. "What about you?"

"There is no side of the bed when it's a single."

Lorelai smiled and slapped his thigh. "Perfect then."

Luke went to use the bathroom and Lorelai climbed into bed after turning off the lights, leaving only a lamp lit for him to make his way back. Luke had never felt so self conscious as he did crossing that room back over to her bed. He climbed in, flinching at ever squeaky spring or knock of the headboard against the wall.

He settled against the soft mattress and curled one arm behind his head. The other he moved to his slide and held open for her to rest against him. Her head landed on his chest, her hand on his stomach and her leg draped over one of his as she nestled against him and purred.

"This is good." he kissed the top of her head. "This is real good."

"Could be better," she said as her hand started to move down his stomach but he moved like lightning and stopped her.

"No, this is perfect."

"Perfect?"

"Yeah, this right now, right here, this is perfect."

Luke brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it tenderly then held it against his chest and closed his eyes.

"This is perfect." she said against him and kissed his chest before falling into a sweet slumber next to him.

* * *

Luke woke the next morning with Lorelai spooning against him, her butt nestled into his crotch, her hand over his side holding him in place while he had one hand on her breast, and the other on her hip She was soft and warm and her top had ridden up to her next exposing her fully to him. The hand he had on her hip had two fingers below the cuff off her shorts and he could feel the wisps of soft hair between her legs.

Based on the amount of light that was shining in through the windows, Luke guessed it was before 5 and he should start making tracks to get back to the diner to start his day but he was equally sure, wild horses couldn't drag him away from this moment.

Her body curled into his, her soft ass pressed into him, her firm fingers against his ass, her breast heavy and soft in his hand. He didn't mean to move but he couldn't help it. His fingers curled against her and her body responded with a slow arch into his hand.

"Luke?" she murmured, her voice heavy with sleep.

"Mmm." he kissed her shoulder and pulled her back against him. "Morning."

"Morning." She moved to turn to face him but he held her in place.

"No, don't move."

"Luke…"

"If you turn to face me, my resolve will all be lost. And I need to not lose my resolve."

"Seems to me," she whispered as she pressed her breast into his palm and he squeezed it tenderly. "You don't have much resolve left to lose."

"Lorelai," He bit her shoulder and laved the red skin with his tongue. "I need to go and sort out the diner."

"No, not yet. Five more minutes."

"Five more minutes and it'll be too late."

As if only noticing then that his other hand was on her hip she rolled them to make his reach go further, and clenched her ass against him. "I don't need five minutes."

"You need a straight jacket."

"Kinky." Luke chuckled and kissed her shoulder then started to roll away from her but she whimpered. "No, not yet, you're so warm."

"And hard." he rolled his hips against her ass and she clenched against his cock before he rolled away entirely and lay on his back.

"Tease," she pouted.

At that Luke sat up and pulled her onto her back, he hovered over her, his lips mere milimetres away from hers as his hand moved from her shoulder to cup her breast, down her hip to cup her mound.

"Make no mistake Lorelai Gilmore. I want you. I want you more than I want to breathe." He rolled his hips towards her in case she wasn't convinced. "I'm not teasing, I want to and intend to do unspeakable things to you, but right now, your daughter is downstairs and I want to not make it weird."

"Do unspeakable things," she urged as she lifted her hips up into his hand. "Do them Luke."

"I don't believe that you will be able to keep the volume at a respectable level."

"I will Luke, I will!" she whispered as if showing him what she was capable of.

"That might work with your usual bedfellows Lorelai, but I know you better."

"First of all," she said as she pushed on his shoulder and made him fall onto his back where she quickly followed him and straddled him. "I do not have usual bedfellows, you are the first man to ever, I say, ever sleep in this bed!" At that admission Luke looked suitably shocked. "Secondly, you might know me, Luke Danes, you might know me better than most people, but you do not know what I'm capable of in bed."

"I'm beginning to think that's true."

"And thirdly," she said as she lowered her body to hover above him, lifting herself off his erection that was straining against his boxers. Luke moaned at the loss of contact then grabbed her hips to hold her still.

"Thirdly?"

"Thirdly, what makes you think you can make me moan loud enough to wake Rory anyway!" This statement was accompanied by a challenging smile and a twinkle in her eye and Luke knew when he was being baited. He also know there was no use in trying to avoid it.

He flipped her over onto her back and pressed against her with his whole body. "You want it?" he kissed her neck, clamped his teeth down on her shoulder as his hand sought out her breast and pinched her nipple. "I have what you need," he rolled his hips towards her. "And I'm going to give it to you," he bent down and gave her a searing kiss. "But not right now."

Before the words registered, Luke climbed off her and grabbed his jeans off the chair.

"Luke?"

"I need to go." He pulled on his jeans and grabbed his shirts.

"Luke!" she sat up and watched him pull on his shirts.

"I gotta go open the diner."

"Luke!" she slammed her fists onto the bed and Luke couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks for letting me stay over." He sat on the chair and pulled on both of his boots, not bothering to tie the laces.

"Lucas Danes." This time her voice was low and threatening and Luke smiled. He crossed the room, leaned onto the bed with closed fists either side of her legs and kissed her swiftly on the cheek.

"See you guys for breakfast?"

Lorelai nodded mutley and watched as Luke hurried out of her room, leaving her sitting in a swirl of arousal and frustration. She fell back into her pillows and and slammed her fists against the bed again.

"That damned Lucas Danes."

* * *

Once home, Luke showered and changed and hurried to catch up with his opening routine. The breakfast rush was enough to keep his mind off the expression on Lorelai's face when he climbed out of her bed and he couldn't help but feel a little triumphant about it. At 8am he spotted mother and daughter crossing the road towards his diner and he braced himself for whatever revenge she had install for him.

They entered with a flourish and Lorelai caught his wince when the bell rang. She knew why he winced, she felt that same pang of desire when that bell rang, but she was expecting it, she could hide it better. Luke lay his hands on the counter and watched her cross the room. She was wearing that same damned skirt he released, the same one she wore when he first grabbed her. She took a seat by the window and Rory landed beside her, dropping her massive school bag onto another chair.

Lorelai picked up a menu and watched him surreptitiously over the top of it and he knew, without a shadow of a doubt that she was smiling at him.

"What are you doing mom?"

"Nothing."

"Put the menu down." Rory grabbed her mother's arm to make her drop the menu. "Stop teasing him."

"I'm not teasing." Lorelai put the menu back between the salt and pepper shakers but kept her eyes locked on Luke's. "I'm merely trying to let him know we're ready to order."

"It's Luke, we've been coming in here daily for years, he probably knows what we're getting, let alone when we want to order it."

"It never hurts to be prepared."

Luke kept his eyes locked on hers and took a breath before coming around the counter and approaching the table. He pulled his pad and pen out of the front of his jeans and watched Lorelai's eyes flutter down to his belt.

"What are you having?"

"Waffle and strawberries for me," Rory said, then added "And a straight jacket for my mother."

"I have one in the back, extra strong straps."

"Perfect." She smiled sweetly at Lorelai but she was ignoring them both and just smiling at Luke.

"I'll have jack omelette with white toast and nutella."

Luke cocked an eyebrow up and focused on her before writing it down. "Nutella?"

"It's a breakfast spread." She unzipped her jacket and reached behind her chair to pull it off, one sleeve at a time, making her breasts protrude towards him.

"Says who?" he tried not to look down at her chest. She was wearing a spaghetti strapped hot pink silk blouse with a low cut front and back that made him want to drop to his knees and worship at the altar or Lorelai. Instead he clenched his jaw and focused his eyes on her face.

"The tv.."

"Oh right well then," he wrote it down with a slow shake of his head. "Coffee?"

"Yes, strong, black and fast."

"Me too." Rory added sweetly.

Luke rolled his eyes and went back to the counter to grab a couple of mugs and the fresh pot he had just made. "Two heart stompers," he muttered as he poured out their drinks but they both just giggled so he rolled his eyes and walked away.

As Luke roamed around the diner seeing to other customers Lorelai watched him with her chin in her hand, and a dreamy look on her face.

"Mom."

"Yep?"

"Is it going to be like this between you and Luke now?"

"Huh?" She refocused on her daughter. "Like what?"

"Googly eyes."

Lorelai smiled and blushed a little. "No. At least, not for ever." She sipped her coffee and leaned closer to Rory. "So last night-"

"Wait… no," Rory covered her ears and screwed her eyes shut. "I don't want to know what you did last night."

"Rory!" Lorelai said with a laugh and pulled at her daughter's arms. "I know better than to share anything like that with you, though for your information, we only slept," Lorelai said. "What I was going to say was last night, hanging out with Luke was great."

Rory smiled. "It was."

"I wanted to say thank you for that."

"You're thanking me? All I did was eat his pastries."

"Yeah well, you did a lot more than that." Lorelai put her hand over Rory's and smiled warmly. "Have I told you yet today how great you are?"

"No," Rory said, lifting her chin.

"Well you're great."

"So are you guys officially-"

"Officially. Medals and a certificate in the post, it will be framed and added to the wall next to the cell phone sign."

"Does that mean he's going to start coming to Friday night dinners?"

"Whoa!" Lorelai held her hands up in surrender and leaned back in her chair. "Let's not get crazy!"

"But you said official, with a certificate and everything."

"Official does not mean he deserves punishment, in fact I would say he deserves the opposite." Lorelai sipped her coffee. "We like Luke remember? We want him to stick around."

Just then Luke swooped in carrying their plates and placed them in front of each of them. "Waffles, and omelette." He stood back, his hands on his hips and looked down at them both, as each of them looked up at him smiling. "What?"

"Yeah, you're right," Rory said as she picked up her cutlery. "We do like him, let's keep him out of harm's way."

"Huh?" Luke frowned and looked over at Lorelai who had her cup up to her lips and still managed to smile.

"Nevermind hun, you go back to doing what you're doing." Lorelai shooed him away with a pat on his butt and Luke rolled his eyes before returning to the safety of his counter.

They ate and chatted, teased him from across the diner and finished their coffee before Rory jumped up and grabbed her bag before racing for the bus that was just pulling up. Luke came by to clear their table and noticed that Lorelai seemed to be getting comfortable, and showed no signs of leaving for work.

"Refill?"

"Please." She held out her cup and he returned with the coffee. Her eyes never left him as he worked the room, refilling everyone's mugs, some who hadn't even had coffee in the first place.

When the breakfast crowd died down, she moved from her seat to a stool at the end of the counter and after ignoring her for a few minutes more Luke caved and slowly walked over. He leaned over beside, with his forearms on the counter, and clasped his hands in front of him, trying desperately to keep his eyes above her neck line.

"Not working this morning?" he asked.

"Oh I'm working, working hard."

"At driving me crazy?"

"Is it working?"

Luke let his eyes drop from hers, to her lips, that she licked slowly when she noticed his gaze wandering, to her chin, that she jutted out over her slender neck, to her chest where he just now realised was completely free of any encasement and was simply brushing against the soft silk of her blouse.

"Yes." he said without moving his eyes off her chest, making her breathing speed up which in turn moved her breasts beneath his gaze. "Yes, it most certainly is working." He looked back up to her sparkling eyes and leaned into kiss her just as the phone against the wall rang. Luke paused, his lips hovering by hers and he sighed. He planted a quick kiss against her lips then walked over to the phone and barked into it.

"Luke's"

Lorelai picked up her coffee and sipped it as she watched him walk away, careful to have her eyes on his ass when he turned around. Sure enough as he leaned back against the counter behind him and looked over, he frowned at her and waved his hand as if to shoo her gaze.

"What?...Liz...wait, put her back on the phone." Lorelai sat up, all thoughts of annoying him flushed away at the urgency in his voice. "Put her back on the phone right now dammit." She jumped off her stool and rushed to his side, placing a hand on his arm to let him know she was there. "Eric, you piece of shit…No! You cannot do that...let me talk to Liz...yeah, I'd like to see you try." Luke turned his back to the diner and Lorelai's hand dragged from his arm to his back and she held it there. "Give. Her. The. Phone." He said through gritted teeth then turned to look at the phone in his hand before slamming it onto the holder on the wall.

"Luke, what happened?"

"Liz called." He looked furious. He started to pace behind the counter and Lorelai followed. "Jesus christ."

"What?"

"She called but he snatched the phone off her." Luke thumped the edge of the counter making the few customers in the place jump.

"Hey, stop, you'll hurt yourself," Lorelai said and she snatched his hand and held it against her. "C'mon."

She dragged him behind the curtain and upstairs to his apartment then led him to a chair in the kitchen area and pushed him down. She pulled out another chair and sat across from him, still holding his hand in both of hers.

"Tell me what happened."

"Liz just called… but when she tried to talk to me her boyfriend snatched the phone off her. He wouldn't put her back on."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing, she barely said hello when he took the phone."

"What did he say?"

"He threatened me."

"What?"

"He threatened me with legal action first… then to beat me up." Luke shook his head in disbelief and took his hand back from Lorelai to sink his elbows on his knees and his face in both hands. Not content to not be touching him, Lorelai rested a hand on his shoulder and slowly rubbed it back and forth. "I thought I was too old to be threatened by my sisters boyfriends," he said with a chuckle but Lorelai knew this was forced mirth.

"What can we do?"

"Do?" Luke scoffed as he sat back, making her hand drop to his lap. "Nothing, this is par for the course with Liz."

"Luke, you should reach out to her, where is she?"

"I don't know Lorelai." He stood up and started pacing. "She moves around, she goes from place to place, dragging her son along and staying with whatever random guy will salve whatever it is she is craving at that time."

"Luke-"

"There's nowhere to go!" he shouted. "Nothing to do!"

"But-"

"You don't understand Lorelai," He whirled round to face her and jabbed his chest with two fingers. "I've been here before, I've taken those phone calls before, I've gone looking for her before, only to be told to go away and get out of her life."

Lorelai waited for the wind to leave his sails then when his hands dropped by his sides, his shoulders slumped, and his chin dropped to his chest, she stood and approached. Without waiting for an invite, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close. As soon as she held him, his arms moved to circle her back and his head dropped to her shoulder. Lorelai whispered soothing noises against his ear, as one hand held his head against her, the other moved to his back to slowly rub circles between his shoulders.

"I'm so tired." he whispered against the skin on her shoulder. Lorelai wasn't sure if she heard him right, but loathed to lean back for fear of moving him away. "I'm so tired of chasing after her, of trying to fix whatever mess she is in, of putting my own life on hold to make sure everyone around me is happy, healthy, safe...I just want...I just want…"

"What?" Lorelai whispered, urging him to go on, her heart in her chest beating a powerful erratic rhythm.

"Uh, I dunno."

She kissed his temple and lightly scratched the back of his neck with her nails. She held him for as long as he needed and surprisingly, he let her. His forehead was heavy on her shoulder, his arms circled her slim waist, and pulled her tight against him.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Moving house took way longer than expected and it was only this weekend that I got my computer really set up for writing again. I flew through this one this morning, eager to get it published. Hope there are not too many typos

* * *

Lorelai focused on her computer screen and tried to shuffle the guests around again to see if she could make them all fit. A wedding and a 50th anniversary on the same weekend was something that she could have avoided but she guess it was during her week of dates, her week of avoiding Luke that she was distracted and missed the double booking.

The in-house staff would have to be moved and their rooms offered to the guests, and the staff would have to be compensated. She looked at the bookings and realised she might just break even when it was all over but at least everyone would be happy.

Lorelai sat back in her chair and gently played with her lower lip with her fingers as she realised that was all she ever wanted. To make people happy. To make them smile. But the one person she wanted to see smile, was not smiling. She picked up her phone and opened the contacts list to scroll down to Liz's name. She wasn't even sure if this was the right number. Luke had given it to her a long time ago when she was visiting and he took her phone to call Lorelai at the inn.

If she was really as flaky as Luke said, there was no way this was going to be her number. There was no way.

Her thumb hovered over the call button but instead she locked the screen and dropped the phone onto the table. She tried to focus back on the computer but her eyes kept roaming back to the phone.

"Dammit…" she picked up the phone and stood to pace the room. Without giving herself a chance to stop she called the number and held the phone up to her ear. It rang, and rang and rang, and Lorelai took some solace in the fact that the number was not disconnected.

"Hello?" the voice that answered was soft and low, but not quite a whisper.

"Hi, Liz?"

"Who's askin'?"

"It's Lorelai, from Stars Hollow. I'm a friend of your brothers."

"Oh, yeah, I remember!" the voice became louder now and a little more sure of itself.

"I just wanted to call and see if you were doing ok. Luke said you tried to call him yesterday…?" Lorelai paused and waited for Liz to speak but all she was met with was static. "He said you seemed a little upset."

"Upset, right."

"Are you ok?" Lorelai asked plainly then added. "Can you talk?"

"Not really." Lorelai heard a voice in the background. "Listen I gotta go."

"No wait, meet me… for a coffee."

"No, thanks but I'm not interested."

"Liz, meet me at Cafe Sheila on Hanover St in Boston...meet me there at 3pm tomorrow."

"No, it's just someone trying to sell makeup or something."

Lorelai listened to the phone hang up and wondered if Liz would actually meet her. Then she wondered how she was going to get to Boston without anyone asking any questions. "Dammit."

* * *

Luke focused on the diner. Nothing else. Taking orders. Serving coffee. Delivering plates. Baking pies. He ignored the chatter from the usual locals that scattered around his tables and focused on anything else. But no matter what he tried to distract himself with, nothing would drown out the sound of Liz's voice on the call that morning. The lunch crowd almost worked but they faded away all too quickly. The dinner crowd didn't come close to drowning out the voice and instead just made it seem louder.

Lorelai. He needed Lorelai. But it was Friday. And she was in her parents house with Rory having dinner until late. He looked at the clock and saw it was well past closing but he wasn't yet ready to close up. Kirk was nursing a sliver of apple pie and Luke was inclined to let him as long as he didn't have to close up and go up to his cold, empty, silent, apartment.

"All done Luke, what do I owe you."

Luke looked up and saw Kirk push the now empty plate away as he balled up a napkin and dropped it onto it.

"Another slice Kirk?"

"No, not for me. I need to keep this slim figure that Lulu loves so much."

Luke winced and moved towards the till. He took the money off Kirk and watched as he slipped on his coat and left. It was on the tip of his tongue to call him back and see if he wanted to...what, go for a beer? Luke shook his head and slowly moved over to the door. He locked up and flipped the sign then slowly moved about his nightly cleaning routine. Taking more care than usual as a delay tactic to avoid going upstairs, all too soon he found himself standing at the door to his apartment, one hand on his hip, the other on the knob.

"Dammit."

He spun on his heel, patting his pocket for his keys then hurried out of the door and over to his truck. He sped through town to Lorelai's house, though knowing she was not going to be home, he was unsure why he was speeding, just that he knew he needed to be there. Annoyingly he found the back door unlocked and left the lights off as he moved upstairs to her room. He pulled off his shoes and jeans then tugged his shirt off over his head without undoing any of the buttons. He draped it over the back of the chair at the end of her bed and made his way to her bathroom.

Her shower was hot and powerful and did it's best in easing his tension as it pummelled against his shoulders and neck. He turned his head to face the spray for as long as he could take it then turned off the water and grabbed a towel.

A little more relaxed than before, he dried off, brushed his teeth then slowly made his way into bed and crashed. Every muscle in his body tingled from the cold sheets and stress but as his head his the pillow and his eyes closed over, everything faded away and he slept.

* * *

Lorelai took the first exit off the highway and steered the car towards town. Rory who was sitting beside her idly chewing on a red rope liquorice she found in the glove box smiled.

"Detour?"

"Huh?" Lorelai feigned ignorance.

"Detour through town? Hoping for a late night nibble?"

"Rory!" Lorelai hit her arm playfully but her smile faltered as she drove past the diner and saw it and the apartment above was all locked up and dark.

"You'll see him tomorrow I'm sure." Rory said with a sad smile.

"Yeah."

But as they pulled into the driveway and spotted Luke's car both of the Gilmore girls looked at each other and smiled.

"Maybe he brought over some pastries," Rory said.

"Maybe he brought over some coffee," Lorelai said.

"Maybe he brought over both!" they both chimed in unisen and giggled. Lorelai hurried across the lawn and opened the door with a flourish, expecting him to be waiting by the couch or the kitchen but he was nowhere to be found.

"Luke?" she called out softly. "Are you here?"

"Where is he?" rory asked as she walked past her mother and into her room where she dropped her coat and kicked off her shoes.

"I dunno…" Lorelai walked further into the room as she unbuttoned her coat revealing and teal chiffon wide necked top along with her black skirt. She toed off her heels and dropped them and her coat on the couch. "Maybe he's upstairs fixing the shelving I asked him about."

She hurried upstairs and pushed open her bedroom door with a flourish, expecting to see him struggling to hold a shelf up against the wall as he fixed the mount. But instead she saw him asleep in her bed.

Lorelai frowned. She moved closer to the bed and sure enough, he was fast asleep. One hand was curled under his pillow which the other was flung across the bed over on her side. The duvet was low on his waist and she wasn't sure, but she thought he was naked underneath.

She backed out of the room quietly and hurried back down stairs to where Rory was curling up on the couch, having changed into a hoodie and a pair of sweats. She had a half packed of cookies on her lap and was flicking through the tv channels faster than Lorelai could register what she was even watching.

"There's a boy in my bed."

"Luke?"

"Yes, Luke!" Lorelai flumped onto the couch beside her daughter and grabbed a cookie.

"He's asleep?"

"Fast asleep and snoring."

"Didn't you know he was going to be coming by?"

"No, I thought we were going to meet for breakfast tomorrow."

"You think he is ok?"

"I don't know." Lorelai sat up and ran her hands through her hair. "I might just go up and see." She leaned over and kissed Rory on the cheek. "'Night honey."

"Night mom."

Lorelai made her way back upstairs and this time taking it easy as she opened the door she closed it behind her with a soft click then padded over to the bathroom, closing that door too before turning on the light. She quickly went through her nightly routine, trying her best not to sing her usual songs then undressed to her bra and panties before turning off the light and going back into the bedroom.

Over at the drawers she managed to pull out a tee and a pair of shorts and quickly discarded her underwear and pulled those on. Back over at the bed she gently tugged the duvet back and climbed in, ever so careful not to disturb Luke.

But now she found herself lying flat on her back, staring at the ceiling with Luke snoring softly beside her. She wasn't tired enough to sleep, but she didn't want to wake him either. She looked over at him and carefully sat up then scooted closer. Moving slower than she thought she ever did she rolled her away from him and lowered her head onto his arm. As if a trigger had been pulled, Luke rolled towards her and curled his body around hers.

"You're back," he whispered against her head as he nuzzled in ever closer and pulled her tight against him.

"Yeah, just back."

"I meant to stay awake for you."

"S'okay," she kissed the arm that curled around her neck. "You were tired."

"Yeah. A long stressful day."

"Did Liz call again?"

"No," Luke kissed the back of her head. "No, she didn't."

"I'm sorry Luke, I wish…"

"I wish too." His arms tightened around her and pulled her against him and she felt him sigh. "I hope you don't mind I came over."

"Mind? Finding a hot naked man in my bed?" Lorelai chuckled. "No, I don't mind in the slightest."

Luke chuckled. "You didn't have the back door locked."

"If it means I'll come home to find you in my bed, I'll never lock that door again." This time Luke chuckled and Lorelai kissed his arm again. "What time do you need to be up in the morning?"

"Five. I set the alarm already."

The room was silent for a while and Lorelai wondered if he had fallen back asleep, but when she glanced over her shoulder she found him watching her through half closed eyes. "Will I see you in the diner tomorrow?"

"I'll come in for a late breakfast but I have 2 events at the inn so I won't be able to be in after."

"How about tomorrow night?"

"Will I find you in my bed again?"

"How about in the kitchen?"

"The kitchen?" Lorelai looked over her shoulder at him with fake shock. "Outside Rory's room! I didn't think you would be an exhibishionist lover Luke."

"No, I meant, cooking in the kitchen. How about I cook you dinner tomorrow."

"Oh, well...that's less fun but sure." She could feel him roll her eyes and smiled smugly. "I might not get home till about 7ish...is that ok?" she added, remembering her appointment in Boston tomorrow. An appointment she wasn't sure Liz would even keep.

"That's fine. How does lasagna sound?"

"Perfect."

Luke leaned forward and kissed her shoulder then tightened his hold on her for a moment before loosening his grip and settling back into the pillow. Lorelai relaxed against him and let the lull of his soft breathing pull her into a deep, safe sleep.

* * *

After only a little convincing, Sookie was able to take care of the events at the inn while Lorelai jumped into the jeep and sped off to Boston. She made it in record time and was delighted to find a parking spot outside the cafe. With twenty minutes to spare, Lorelai went in and picked a seat by the window with a view of the door and the street in the hopes she would see Liz coming. She ordered a coffee and a slice of pie and waited.

She tried not to watch the clock, tried not to keep peeking out the window. She focused on the book she was pretending to read and tried to relax. At four o'clock her heartbeat quickened and she dropped the pretence of reading and just stared at the door. By half four her shoulders were slumped and she was on her third cup of coffee and second slice of carrot cake. By five she was refreshing her traffic app on her phone and watching with increasing worry the more red lines on the highway that meant she might not make it home by seven.

Lorelai paid her bill and slowly walked out of the cafe. She made her way to her car and even waited there ten minutes more but there was no point. She started the engine and pulled out into traffic, ready for a frantic drive home.

* * *

Luke pulled the lasagna out of the oven and rested it onto the heat pad in the centre of the table. He was just starting to grab delf and cutlery when Rory came in.

"Here, let me do that," she said, grabbing the mismatched plates out of his hand. She set the table humming a little tune as Luke tossed a salad in a large bowl and added a sweet dressing.

"So, uh...how was your, uh… day?" he asked when she was reaching for three glasses.

"Fine. Except the library borrowed out a book I had on hold to someone else and now I have to wait another three weeks to borrow it myself."

"What was the book?"

"Catherine the Great, portrait of a woman." she said and then added. "It's for a project at school."

"She was that Russian leader right?"

"Yeah," rory said surprised and turned to face him as Luke put the salad on the table.

"What, I know things."

Rory chuckled as she went to the fridge. "I don't doubt it for a second Luke." she put a jug of iced tea on the table and stood back to admire her handi work. "There, all done."

"All we need now is Lorelai." Luke looked at his watch. Seven forty. He had timed the dinner to be after seven so she would have time to change after work and wind down a little before eating but now, with dinner on the table, there was no sign of her.

"The events at the inn must have run over. I'll give her a call." Rory spun on her heel to go for the phone in the hall.

"No!" Luke called out taking a step towards the arch to block her. "I don't want to disturb her."

"It won't disturb her. And if it did, she wouldn't answer." Rory shooed him out of the way and grabbed the phone. The speeddial connected the call and she tapped her foot as she waited for Lorelai to pick up.

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry, I'm almost there."

"How close?"

"Pulling onto cherry street. T minus 1 minute."

"Ok."

Rory hung up the phone and turned to see Luke's anxious face. "She should be pulling p outside any second."

"Ok, great." he looked relieved and rory walked over and patted his arm.

"Relax Luke. This is it right?"

"Huh?"

"This is what you've been waiting for."

Luke looked down at Rory with a slight frown. "Yes." he said solemnly and Rory smiled.

The front door burst open with a bang against the wall and Lorelai left a trail of coat, shoes and bag in her wake to get to the kitchen.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," she reached up on tippy toes to kiss Luke who was standing by the stove then leaned down to kiss Rory who was sitting at the table. "I'm here, and I'm starved!"

"Take a breath, Lorelai. Go upstairs and change if you like, we can wait."

"No, no, no more waiting. Lets eat."

They chatted idly throughout dinner though Luke noticed that Lorelai seemed to evade any questions about the events at the inn. She kept steering the conversation back to Rory's day at the library or Luke's day at the diner. By the time the table was cleared Rory was slipping into her coat and kissing her mother's cheek.

"I'm going to Lane's."

Lorelai nodded and patted her daughters arm as she sat back in her chair and twirled the glass of win between her thumb and forefinger, her eyes glazed and distant. Luke let the silence prevail until the dishes were all clean and put away then pulled out the chair beside her and sat facing her, his hands clasped between his knees, his frown stitched prominently on his brow.

"Hey, whats up?"

"Huh?" she moved her eyes and focused on him with a soft smile.

"Whats going on? You seem distracted."

Lorelai's smile faltered and she knew there was no way she could keep her trip from him. She pushed the remains of her wine aside and mimicked his pose, brushing her hair behind her ears as she sat forward.

"I wasn't in work today."

"Where were you?" Luke asked though in his mind he knew what she was going to say before she said it.

"I was in Boston."

"Lorelai." Luke sat back and brushed a hand over his face.

"I called Liz yesterday to try to talk to her."

"Lorelai. I told you there was no point."

"I called her and asked her to meet me in a cafe in Boston."

"What did she say?"

"She didn't show up."

"I told you it was a waste of time." Luke stood and started to walk around the kitchen with his hands on his hips. "I told you she is flaky and selfish and will only meet you if there is something she could get out of it."

"Well I wanted to give her a chance. I thought she might be in trouble."

"She's always in trouble."

"Well I wanted to try."

Luke slumped against the counter by the sink and crossed his arms over his chest, his chin low and his eyes closed. Lorelai let him stew for a moment longer then slowly crossed the room to stand in front of him. She tugged on his arms and he let her loosen his grip then she draped them over her shoulders and rested her forehead on his chest.

"I wanted to do something for you, I wanted to fix something for you."

"It's not something you can fix."

"I didn't know."

"But I told you."

"But…" Lorelai lifted her head and looked up into his eyes, afraid she might see anger there, or something worse but instead she saw only sadness.

"I don't want you to be dragged into all my family drama. I want to protect you from that."

"Luke I want to be dragged into it. I want to be in it, if you're in it. I want to-"

Luke stopped her with a kiss. He swallowed her words and moved his arms to pull her against him, flush from head to toe, then tilted his head to get better access and sighed as she opened her mouth and allowed him further exploration.

When she pulled back from him and broke the kiss he tried his best not to follow but his lips sought her out. He kissed her neck, her ear, her jaw. "Luke I'm here with you in this. If you lose something, I lose it too."

"Mmmhmm," he moved his kisses to the front of her neck and over to her other ear.

"I want you to…" he bit down gently on her ear and suckled her lobe into his mouth making her lose her train of thought. "I want you to…" his tongue brushed against the outer shell of her ear and he licked the sensitive spot behind it. "I want you to…"

Luke pulled back from her and looked down with a half smile. "You want me to what?"

"Do that thing with your tongue again." Luke chuckled and moved his head down to kiss her again but like lightening her hand came between them, covered his lips and pushed him back. "No, what I meant to say was I want you to stop trying to protect me. We're in this together right?" Luke nodded. "And we're going to be side by side if something like this happens again, right?" Luke nodded. "And you're going to definitely do that thing with your tongue again, right?" She felt him smile beneath her fingers and his tongue came out to caress them.

She lowered her hand and their lips crashed together hungrily. Her hands buried in his hair, his pulled her hips against him and he leaned forward to deepen the connection. Lorelai lifted her leg and ran it over his to cradle his hip and she moaned into his mouth as her arousal pressed into her centre. His hands moved from her hips to her ass then one slid up her back, beneath her blouse to her bra fastening but as his fingers moved the clasp the shrill sound of her cell phone ringing broke the silence.

Luke looked up, startled, half expecting Rory to be standing in the archway and Lorelai chuckled as she moved to disentangle herself from him. "It's just a message on my phone...hang on...keep those dirty thoughts active."

She leaned across the table to reach for her bag, giving Luke a tantalising view of her ass that he couldn't resist. He reached over and rested his hands on the curve of her cheeks and moved his fingers around her skirt to find the fastening. Lorelai looked over her shoulder with a smile as she fished her phone out of the bag and Luke smiled triumphantly as he undid the hook and pulled on the zipper.

"Oh gosh!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"My thoughts exactly," Luke murmured, forgetting she was distracted, and focusing on a distraction of his own.

"No Luke, look…" Lorelai batter his hands away and it took a moment for Luke to focus on what she was showing her. She had her phone out to face him and he squinted to read the small black text. "It's from Liz."

"Huh?" He took the phone off her and stepped back from her tantalizing heat to read the message. "On the bus to Stars Hollow. Should get in at 10.30. Can't get through to Luke, can you let him know?"

"She's coming to Stars Hollow."

"She must have been trying to call me. Can I use your phone?"

"Yes, of course, c'mon."

Lorelai grabbed his hand and only then seemed to notice her skirt was sagging at her hips. She looked up at him with a frown and slapped his chest. Luke shrugged as she bunched her skirt at the side and held it together enough to make their way upstairs. "Use this phone," she said as she led him over to the bed. "Call her and I'll shower and change."

Luke nodded and picked up the phone as Lorelai went into the bathroom. She ran the shower to get it hot enough as she stripped out of her clothes. She could hear him talking softly and she felt the tension of her day fade away under the relief and powerful spray. She bowed her head and let it pummell her neck for a moment then lifted her face to the spray and sighed.

So enchanted by the relaxing water, she didn't notice when the curtain pulled back and Luke stepped in behind her. She was startled by his large hands gripping her waist but immediately fell back against him and signed as he wrapped his arms around her.

"She's coming to stay?"

"For a while. With her son."

"Full house, huh."

"Yeah, but it'll be fine." He held her against him and rocked slightly from side to side. "Thank you, Lorelai."

"I didn't do anything."

"You did everything."

He bent down and kissed her neck where it met her shoulder and just encircled her with his whole body. "I gotta go meet her off the bus soon."

"Soon."

"Yeah." his arms loosened their grip and his hands started to roam, making her smile. "Not too soon though."

"Soon enough."

"Hmm." One hand moved up her gently rounded belly to cup her breast while the other moved down to the apex of her legs and cup her mound. Lorelai moaned and arched her back and moved her hips into both hands as Luke bit down on his favourite spot and growled a little.

He wasn't one for dirty talk. Lorelai knew that. Even though they had spent very little time in bed, she knew he wasn't about to spout out words of desire about her body but that guttural growl did more for her than any word in any language ever could. That guttural growl was uncontrolled and primal and it made her arousal kick up a notch or two, regardless of what his hands were doing. She wanted to turn and face him, prop her leg on his hip and trust herself toward shim but she held her in place, one hand exploring her breasts, his fingers and thumb gently and roughly rolling her nipples, as his other hand stroked her softly, refusing to slip between her folds no matter how much she writhed against his hand.

"Luke…" she panted, tipping her head back and screwing her eyes shut as her whole body tensed with need. "I want you to…"

"To?"

"I want you to…"

"To what, Lorelai," he whispered and her name on his lips, with his lips against her ear, made her moan.

"I want you."

Luke's fingers on both hands, stilled and she felt his cock against her ass twitch. Lorelai clenched her ass around him making him jerk back into action. He pulled her shoulder and twirled her around to face him then pushed her back against the cold tiles. He pulled her leg up to his hip and kissed her gruffly as her hand moved between them and grabbed his cock.

He moaned into her mouth, refusing to break the kiss as she stroked him firmly but slowly, them moved the head of his cock against herself in slow tantalizing brushes until he moved forward enough to part her folds and she grunted with need.

"Now, Luke."

He brushed her hands aside and she gripped his shoulders as he guided himself to her entrance. But before he pushed in he looked up to her and saw her head tossed back against the tiles, her eyes screwed shut with need and anticipation.

"Lorelai, look at me." but she didn't move. He started to pull back and she inhaled sharply. "Look at me."

Her eyes opened wide and her left lifted to look at him and he pushed into her in slow, shallow strokes until he was fully sheathed in her hot pulsating warmth. Her mouth was agape and the grip she had on his shoulders was sure to leave eight small crescent marks on his skin. Luke felt himself tremble with need to pull back but he was buried deep within her and wanted to stay there as long as he could.

But as if his body was on auto pilot he pulled back out almost to the tip and slowly sank into her again. She tried to keep her eyes locked on his, but the sensation of him sliding into her, filling her so completely, made it hard to control anything. His eyes fluttered closed and she took her cue and dropped her head back again to bask in the sensation of his body moving so fluidly. His chest hair rasped against her already peaked nipples, his hands on her ass pulled her towards him with every stroke, pulling her ass to make room for his trusts and his lips clamped down on her shoulder, oblivious to any marks he may leave of his own.

"Lorelai…" he warned after a moment of pure bliss and she knew he was on edge. His shoulders tensed, his eyes screwed shut and his hands gripped her ass tighter.

She wanted to tell him to come for her, wanted to tell him she already had, wanted to tell him to not wait for her but her body was holding back all power of thought and speech and all she could do was moan.

He felt her body tense, felt her muscles clamp around cock and listened to her breathing hitch in her throat until a breathy moan signalled her release and he stopped trying to hold back. She panted in his ear, his name repeated over and over until he finally peaked and broke. Still pumping heedlessly into her, his cock pulsated against her tight walls until he was fully spent.

Luke fell against her, pressing her into the tiles as he gathered his breath and enough strength to stand again. The water was turning cold and he felt goosebumps break out on her skin before he could move. Slowly he lowered her leg to let her stand on her own, then with both hands planted on the tiles either side of her face, he pushed back and they both sighed at the loss of connection.

"Cold." she said and immediately Luke stepped out of the shower and grabbed a large towel. She turned off the water and stepped into his arms and he wrapped them both into the towel. "Not going to dry like this."

"Who cares." He loved having her body pressed up against him and he didn't care if it took twice as long to dry. His body heat was enough to warm her and she circled her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest.

After a moment he moved the towel against her back and focused on drying her and himself off properly then stepped back to admire his handiwork.

"Like what you see?" she said when she caught him ogling her appreciatively.

"Oh yes. Very much so."

Lorelai chuckled and moved past him into the bedroom to her clothing where she pulled on a pair of sweats and a tank top. "What time do you need to go at." Luke sat at the end of the bed, the large damp towel still draped around his waist.

"Well I better get back in time to make up the bed and the couch before I pick them up at the bus stop." he checked his watch. "I'd say I can stay about an hour."

"An hour?" Lorelai said as she crossed the room and straddled his legs then grabbed his watch to see the time. "That's not long." she pouted. Luke rested his hands on her thighs and stroked her softly from her knees to her ass.

"Not long at all." He tilted his head up for her to kiss him and she obliged.

"Shoud we go down and watch a movie or something?"

"Not enough time for a whole movie."

"We could watch some TV or the game. Thats sports team you like is playing tonight I think."

Luke chuckled. "The game is over by now."

"Or we could…" Lorelai began and she let her eyes wander down his bare chest to the towel which was just about covering him. Her fingers raked through the dusting of hair there all the way down to where it tapered off below the towel.

"We just did that."

"Snuggle, I was going to say snuggle."

"I'd like that."

"And you won't be needing this." she said as she playfully tugged on the towel he was wearing.

"Then you won't be needing these." he replied, doing the same to the waistband of her sweats.

"Deal!" she said with a smile and sealed it with a kiss before she jumped off his lap and lost the sweats. Luke watched her with a smile and she moved to straddle his hips again.

"What about this?" he said, pulling at the bottom of her tank top.

"You're only taking off one thing, so I only took off one thing."

"But don't I get to choose?" he said with a slight pout. He hands moved up over her ribs and brushed the underside of her breasts then gently cupped them under her top. Lorelai arched her back to press her breasts into his palms and he leaned forward to kiss them over the soft cotton material.

"Okay, okay, I'll lose the top." She lifted her arms up and slowly Luke pushed the top higher and higher until her breasts were fully exposed. He spent time there exploring them with his hands and lips until she moaned impatiently and pulled the top off the rest of the way herself. "There, now, happy?"

Luke looked up at her with a smug smile. "Very."

"You are incorrigible."

"Just for you." He returned his focus back to her breasts and he made to cover every inch of them with his lips, tongue and teeth.

"I feel so special."

"You are special." He glanced up at her as his teeth gently bit down on her nipple and she gasped at the sensation and the eye contact, lifting herself off his lap a little as she arched her back to get closer to him.

"Luke," she uttered, as her hands gripped his shoulders.

"Hmm?"

"Get rid of the god damned towel."

Luke smiled and looked down at the towel he forgot he was wearing then she lifted herself up on her knees high enough for him to pull the towel out from between them. As she lowered herself back onto his lap her hands immediately went for his half erect cock and slowly started to stroke him.

"I'm not as quick at the recovery part as I used to be," he said softly, still enjoying the sensation of her warm hands stroking him to full arousal. He wasn't sure how long it would take, or how long it would last but while it was happening there was nothing that was going to stop him from enjoying it.

"Recovery is part of the fun," she said with a giggle

"Lots of fun." Lorelai lowered her head and captured his mouth in a searing kiss as her grip on his tightened and he trust weakly into her hands. She broke the kiss and moved her legs to kneel on the ground before him, her hands still stroking him she kissed and licked his nipples then lowered her head and licked the head of his cock. "Lots and lots of fun…"

With her hands stroking his shaft, and her lips and tongue teasing his head Luke was fully erect, and a little lightheaded, in no time. His hands gripped bunches of the sheets beneath him and no matter how much he tried he was unable to stop his hips from trusting up into her.

Lorelai took her cue and when he thought she was going to lick him again she took him into her mouth and suckled on his tip firmly.

"Gah, oh yeah." he said and the words melted with his panting breath as she repeated the motion this time taking him into her mouth deeper and deeper with each stroke. Luke wanted to stop her, to roll her over and bury himself inside her again, but his body was a molton pool of need and he was totally at her mercy. All he managed to do was move her hair aside so he could better see what she was doing then he cupped the back of her head and guided her to a pace he could take.

Lorelai let him help her find the right motion and when his fingers tightened against her scalp she knew she had him. She made a swallowing motion to brush the head of his cock against the back of her throat then hummed in pleasure at the sound of his reciprocating moan, making he cry out her name with a breathy gasp.

He tried to warn her, tried to pull her back from him when he felt his cock stiffen against the inside of her cheek but she sucked on him harder, hummed against him longer and tightened her grip on the bottom of his shaft to show him she had no intention of leaving until he was finished and with that, Luke stopped trying to hold back. He trust his hips towards her and tightened his grip on her head and she let him set the final pace for the last few strokes to finish. His orgasam hit him hard and he called out her name, over and over and she held him in place and took all he offered until his cock twitched softly, and fully spent.

Lorelai slowly released him and gently stroked her hand up his shaft then rested on his thigh. Luke was leaning back on his hands, his head rolled as far back as it would go and his breathing was shallow and erratic. Lorelai pushed herself up with both hands on his thighs and rested her head against his chest. Luke's heart beat rapidly beneath her head and she listened to it with a smile until his breathing returned to normal and he could lift up his head.

"You are amazing." he whispered, not thrusting his voice to be any louder.

"Why thank you kind sir." Lorelai stood and bowed with a flourish before she turned and went into the bathroom. Luke fell back against the bed and stopped trying to control his breathing and heartbeat and just melted into the cool cotton sheets. When she returned she skipped over to him and crawled over his body to lie atop of him and snuggle close. Her breath was minty fresh and her heart was beating as erratically as his own.

"Did you know it would be like this?" he asked softly.

"What?"

"Us. Did you know we would be like this?"

"No. No way!" She chuckled and lifted her head to look at him. "If I knew it was going to be like this, I would have jumped your bones a loooong time ago."

Luke smiled and nodded his head in agreement. "I think…" he started to say then seemed to stop and Lorelai looked up at him again to encourage him to continue. "I think this is going to work out fine." he said and she knew this was not what he was originally going to say.

"You do huh?" she said as she rested her head back down on his chest.

"Yes I do." he said with conviction. "I think with your mouth and my hands, we're both going to be very happy."

"Luke!" Lorelai sat up and swatted his chest and Luke laughed. He caught her wrists and rolled her onto her back to trap her.

But before he could even kiss her the front door slammed shut and Rory called out. "Mom, I'm home. Lane's mom kicked me out and said I needed to go home and say my prayers. I didn't have the heart to tell her we're a religion free household so I just left."

"Okay hun, I'll be down in a sec. Start making some popcorn!"

Luke smiled and kissed Lorelai on the lips quickly then climbed off her and started to search for his clothes.

"Saved by the bell. Well the door and the daughter." Lorelai said as she pulled on her sweats and tank top again, this time with a bra and a hoodie.

"I'm just glad it was now she came home and not five minutes ago," Luke muttered as he pulled on his boots.

Lorelai laughed and came over to rub his back as he bent over to tie his laces. "Lucky you. I guess you'll just have to owe me."

"I already do." he said as he grabbed her hand to stop her from walking fully past. Lorelai turned to see a serious look in his eyes and bent to kiss him softly the turned and hurried down to Rory. "and I already love you," he whispered at the closing door, then focused back on his laces and making himself look like he didn't just get a mind blowing blow job from Lorelai.

Though he was sure that was a look he was never going to be able to wipe off his face.

 **The End.**

* * *

 **A/N:** I didn't want to drag this fic out any more with a liz reunion and then Luke struggling to cope etc, that's whole other fic. So I'll leave it here, with the "What now?" fully resolved. Hope you enjoyed. Apologies for the delay.


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